HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023

HUMANITARIAN HUMANITARIAN
PROGRAMME CYCLE
2023

RESPONSE PLAN ISSUED JANUARY 2023

MYANMAR

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HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023

About
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This document is consolidated by OCHA on behalf of
the Humanitarian Country Team (HCT) and partners. The OCHA coordinates humanitarian action
Humanitarian Response Plan is a presentation of the to ensure crisis-affected people receive
the assistance and protection they
coordinated, strategic response devised by humanitarian
need. It works to overcome obstacles
agencies in order to meet the acute needs of people affected that impede humanitarian assistance
by the crisis. It is based on, and responds to, evidence of needs from reaching people affected by crises,
described in the Humanitarian Needs Overview. and provides leadership in mobilizing
assistance and resources on behalf of the
humanitarian system
PHOTO ON COVER
A woman feeds her daughter a nutritious meal with ingredients grown in her backyard in
www.unocha.org/myanmar
eastern Shan, 2022. Credit: UNICEF twitter.com/ochamyanmar
www.facebook.com/OCHAMyanmar

The designations employed and the presentation of material in the report do not imply the
expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat of the United Nations Humanitarian InSight supports decision-
concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or makers by giving them access to key
concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.
humanitarian data. It provides the latest
verified information on needs and delivery
of the humanitarian response as well as
financial contributions.
www.hum-insight.com

The Financial Tracking Service (FTS) is the

primary provider of continuously updated
data on global humanitarian funding, and
is a major contributor to strategic decision
making by highlighting gaps and priorities,
thus contributing to effective, efficient and
principled humanitarian assistance.
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overview/2022

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HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023

Table of Contents

04 Foreword 114 Part 4: Annexes

05 Response Plan Overview 115 4.1 Planning Figures by Cluster and by Area
118 4.2 What if We Fail to Mobilize Sufficient Funds?
08 Crisis Context and Impact
126 4.3 How to Contribute
18 Response by Strategic Objective
127 4.4 Activity Costing by Cluster
19 Planned Response
131 4.5 Humanitarian-Development Nexus Table
20 HRP Key Figures
137 4.6 Monitoring Framework
21 Historical Trends and New Methodology
145 4.7 Acronyms
147 4.8 End Notes
24 Part 1: Strategic Response Priorities
25 1.1 Humanitarian Conditions and Underlying Factors
Targeted for Response
33 1.2 Nexus between Humanitarian and Development Planning
35 1.3 Strategic Objectives, Specific Objectives and Response
Approach
42 1.4 Costing Methodology
44 1.5 Operational Capacity and Access
53 1.6 PSEA and Accountability to Affected People
59 1.7 Cash and Voucher Assistance

60 Part 2: Response Monitoring

61 2.1 Monitoring Approach

63 Part 3: Cluster Objectives and Response

64 3.1 Overview
66 3.2 Response Analysis
68 3.3 National Scale-Up and Sub-National Coordination
72 3.4 Education
77 3.5 Food Security
85 3.6 Health
89 3.7 Nutrition
93 3.8 Protection
102 3.9 Shelter/NFI/CCCM
107 3.10 Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH)
111 3.11 Coordination and Common Services

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HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023

Foreword
Two years on from the military takeover, calls continue
to grow for an end to the unrelenting violence that is
terrifying communities and necessitating a scale-up
of humanitarian response across the country.
However, the immediate outlook remains bleak with
conflict continuing to rage, public services in disarray,
and inflation worsening the financial distress of
communities.
One-in-three, or 17.6 million people, are now in
humanitarian need, up from 1 million people at the
start of 2021. Increasing numbers of people are now
facing daily protection threats and are living in fear
amid the violence sweeping the country. With surging
displacement, the resources of host communities
and those on the move are being rapidly depleted.
Nutritious food is becoming more scarce and
increasingly unaffordable due to inflation. Parents
are worrying about their children’s future prospects
after years of interrupted schooling, while the sick are
continuing to miss out on medicines and life-saving
treatment because of health service interruptions.
Stateless Rohingya people continue to face restrictions
on their movement that have left them almost
completely dependent on assistance for survival.
This dire situation requires a focused programme
of humanitarian assistance and demands a greater
commitment from donors than was seen in 2022. The
humanitarian community has shown its commitment
to stay and deliver but just 35 per cent of requested
funding was received last year, tying the hands of
humanitarians even when they demonstrated capacity
and willingness to do more. Aid organizations are
estimated to have reached more than 4 million people
with assistance by year’s end – four times the reach
two years ago. This impressive result was achieved
through a complementary mosaic of assistance
by different organizations in different areas, with a
heavy reliance on local partners supporting their own
communities. However, the reality is that underfunding
and access restrictions meant that humanitarian
assistance was not as predictable, sustained or multi-
sectoral as planned in 2022 and did not reach as many
people in conflict areas as hoped with the required
depth of support. The sobering human consequences
of continued underfunding in 2023 are laid out in more
detail on pages 25-32 of this HRP.
The 2023 Humanitarian Response Plan is a product of
hundreds of hours of consultations with humanitarian
partners and affected people whose voices ring
through loud and clear. It is an evidence-based and
people-centered blueprint for action that requests
$764 million dollars to reach 4.5 million people who
are most in need of life-saving support. The Plan is
heavily prioritized and makes a compelling case for a
more robust donor contribution to the response. After
an exceptional expansion into urban areas in 2021
and 2022 due to the severe impacts from COVID-19,
the 2023 humanitarian response is more focused
on responding to severe needs in conflict-affected
rural areas. The restarting or scale-up of some
paused development programmes has meant that
those with needs in urban areas can be transitioned
back to resilience-focused assistance under the
complementary Socioeconomic Resilience and
Response Plan (SERRP). A comparative table showing
the complementarities and connections between these
two plans and an outline of future country-wide, nexus-
sensitive planning approaches is included on pages
131-136 of this document.
In addition to improved funding, the success of the
Plan depends on a new fit-for-purpose coordination
structure; a renewed commitment to more strategic,
safer and fairer partnerships with local organizations;
robust advocacy towards removal of administrative
and legal bottlenecks affecting the humanitarian
partners; expanded access avenues secured through
principled engagement with all sides; and enhanced
accountability to affected people (AAP) – all priorities
highlighted in the recent Peer-2-Peer (P-2-P) report on
Myanmar’s humanitarian operation which are being
prioritized for action in 2023 and beyond.
There is little doubt the year ahead will be another
challenging one for crisis-affected people and for the
aid workers responding to their needs. Millions of lives
are depending on our continued solidarity with those in
need and I encourage all of us to consider how we can
do more to step up and do more to reduce suffering
during the difficult days ahead.
Ramanathan BALAKRISHNAN
UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator a.i.
Myanmar

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HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023
Response Plan Overview
PEOPLE IN NEED PEOPLE TARGETED
17.6M 4.5M
The Myanmar Humanitarian Response Plan requests
US$764 million to reach 4.5 million people prioritized
for life-saving humanitarian support (52 per cent
women, 32 per cent children and 13 per cent with
disability).
The people of Myanmar have entered 2023 facing
an unprecedented political, socioeconomic, human
rights and humanitarian crisis with residual needs
persisting from previous years, and new needs
flowing from security and conflict dynamics since
the military takeover on 1 February 2021. Almost half
the population is thought to be living in poverty in
2023,wiping out the impressive development gains
made since 2005.1 The number of people on the move
as a result of conflict and depleted coping capacity has
sky-rocketed in 2022 and stands at 1.5 million at the
start of 2023.2 Price hikes, severe inflation, movement
restrictions, armed conflict and violence have forced
People Targeted
05
REQUIREMENTS (US$) OPERATIONAL PARTNERS
764M 219
many of the most vulnerable people to resort to crisis
or emergency coping strategies to buy food and other
basic supplies, often negatively impacting on their
safety, well-being, and dignity. This multi-dimensional
humanitarian crisis is now affecting the whole country,
posing grave protection risks for civilians, limiting
access to services and deepening food insecurity.
The grim outlook outlined in the HNO makes a
scaled-up, context-adapted humanitarian response
essential in 2023 to prevent loss of life and reduce
suffering. This response will be delivered through
coordination architecture that is more fit-for-purpose
as recommended by a 2022 P2P review of the
response. A new HCT Localization Strategy and
workstream, also recommended by the P-2-P report,
will be central to response delivery in 2023.
TOTAL POPULATION
ESTIMATED PEOPLE IN POVERTY (UNDP)
PEOPLE IN HUMANITARIAN NEED
(2023 HNO)
PEOPLE TARGETED FOR HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE
(2023 HRP)
HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023
The UN SERRP will also have a critical complementary
nexus role to play in 2023 by preventing more people
from slipping into humanitarian need by addressing
the root causes of the crisis, targeting those who are
impoverished and at-risk but not yet in humanitarian
need, supporting people to build their resilience and
recover from humanitarian situations, and pivoting
available development resources to reach those with
urgent needs whom humanitarians are not able to
reach due to funding constraints through different
kinds of support. Nexus interventions under the
SERRP will complement the HRP by increasing access
to services and strengthening the communities’
socioeconomic resilience, as well as contributing to
preventing people from slipping into situations where
they must rely on humanitarian assistance for survival.
After a broader urban and rural response was
implemented in 2022, addressing the humanitarian
consequences and most severe economic impacts
of COVID-19, as well as the conflict, the humanitarian
response strategy in 2023 follows a slightly narrower
geographical scope of action. In agreement with the
development community in Myanmar, the HRP in
2023 will focus predominantly on people in need in
rural areas, essentially transitioning the significant
caseload of vulnerable people in peri-urban and urban
areas to development partners for more durable
support through programming focused on resilience,
prevention, and improved living conditions.
The HRP is strategically aimed at providing life-saving
assistance to those immediately affected by shocks,
including people who are displaced, as well as those
who are acutely crisis-affected and have humanitarian
needs. The response will aim to alleviate suffering
for people facing acute vulnerabilities such as mental
and physical disability; those using dangerous coping
strategies; internally displaced people and returnees;
and those living in households headed by women,
children, or the elderly. There is a heavy emphasis on
addressing food insecurity in the Response Plan given
the worsening national trends and enormous needs
revealed in the HNO analysis for 2023. Protection
responses and advocacy are a top priority that will
be implemented through systematic information
collection, protection monitoring and analysis, guided
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by the HCT’s newly updated Protection Strategy.
The focus will be on identifying people with specific
needs and reaching the most at-risk with life-saving
and emergency protection services that reduce the
adoption of negative coping strategies and improve
people’s safety and dignity.
In 2022, humanitarian partners demonstrated their
ability to scale up their response in the difficult new
operating environment reaching at least 3.9 million
people3 out of the 6.2 million people targeted for
assistance in the HRP by September using adopting
flexible response modalities to ensure continuity of
operations. However, this assistance has not been as
multi-sectoral or as weighted towards new conflict
areas as planned due to gross under-funding and heavy
access constraints.
Despite a shrinking space for the humanitarian
response, operational partners continue to have
presence and capacity across the country and are
committed to staying and delivering a well-coordinated
life-saving response amid increasingly challenging
circumstances in 2023. With all clusters (except
Logistics) fully activated nationally, humanitarian
organizations have gone to great lengths to expand
their footprint into areas of new need and are reaching
increasing numbers of people affected by the
expanding conflict. In addition to established partners
who have demonstrated the scope to expand their
existing response, a major effort is ongoing to link up
with new partners, particularly local organizations,
to increase access and reach, especially into hard-
to-reach, conflict areas. At the start of 2023, 219
operational cluster partners stand ready to provide
life-saving assistance to people in need, a significant
increase from the 130 partners operational in
quarter 1 of 2022.4
In 2023, humanitarians will continue to try all viable
avenues to deliver assistance and alleviate the
suffering of affected people, recognizing that there
are some areas that are easier for certain actors to
reach than others - especially at-scale. Those who are
in-country will continue working to keep an internal
window of access to affected people open - often by
supporting local partners working heroically in the
HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023
deep field - while simultaneously coordinating with
those who are delivering assistance through remote
modalities. Expanded humanitarian access, especially
to conflict-affected areas, is vital to delivering on
the HRP’s aims and partners will continue to employ
a principled approach to access negotiations. To
deepen access in all areas of the country and enable
humanitarian organizations to deliver assistance,
the revitalized Humanitarian Access Working Group
(HAWG) will guide analysis, access and civil-military
coordination and advocacy.
Alternative delivery approaches, including cash,
remote and private sector modalities will continue to
be explored to reach more people in the constrained
environment. In line with standard global approaches,
humanitarians will continue to engage with all sides
to secure access to people in need of humanitarian
support and raise protection concerns with parties to
the conflict. Such engagement is a practical necessity
to ensure staff can safely enter conflict areas to deliver
assistance. Politicization of this practical humanitarian
engagement and instrumentalization of humanitarian
actors in 2022 has put staff in danger and there are
concerns about the safety of aid workers in this highly
charged environment. To ensure no one is left behind,
humanitarian workers in Myanmar must be allowed to
do their jobs free from restrictions and harassment,
in line with all the protections afforded to them under
International Humanitarian Law (IHL).
07
Despite the predominant public discourse,
humanitarian focus group discussions (FGDs) with
affected people in different parts of the country
over the past year have consistently suggested that
the most vulnerable people want humanitarians to
continue with our existing work to meet their urgent
and immediate needs, whatever way they can. These
less visible but very vulnerable people who are
receiving vital assistance continue to tell humanitarian
actors that their help is a lifeline and that they are
fearful of it stopping.
The response will continue to emphasize the
importance of enhancing AAP work, reinforcing
Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse
(PSEA); preventing and responding to Gender-Based
Violence (GBV); strengthening gender, mental health
and psychosocial support (MHPSS); and promoting
and delivering on disability inclusion. Humanitarian
systems will be strengthened through dedicated
technical working groups on these areas, as well as
other cross-cutting and thematic topics. Cash will
play an increasingly important role in the restrictive
operational environment as a means to get assistance
to people in need. Cash coordination will be scaled
up in 2023 with an in-depth review planned on the
feasibility of moving to a genuine multi-purpose
cash approach, encompassing the breadth of the
humanitarian response in 2024.
HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023
Crisis Context and Impact
Political and security context
Myanmar’s transition from military dictatorship
to democracy made modest progress under the
National League for Democracy (NLD), which came to
government after the 2015 election. However, under
the constitution, the military still retained significant
power with 25 per cent of seats reserved in the
parliament and guaranteed control over key security
ministries. Deeply-rooted and complex challenges
around social cohesion across ethnic divides, human
rights, democratic institutions, peace, and security
continued to threaten the country’s political and
social development and excluded key groups from
exercising their rights. Most notable was the 2017
crisis in Rakhine that saw more than 700,000 stateless
Rohingya people flee to Bangladesh where they
continue to stay in overcrowded camps.5
The NLD’s landslide victory in the November 2020
general election was heavily challenged by the military.
The situation came to a head on 1 February 2021 when
the military took over power, dramatically changing
the political, sociocultural, and economic landscape of
Myanmar. Following a violent crackdown on peaceful
protests, a new resistance movement emerged. An
alliance of NLD politicians and a broader group of
influential people formed an alternative National
Unity Government (NUG) in exile which has since
been declared a terrorist organization by the de facto
authorities. People have resorted to both non-violent
and violent means to counter the military through the
Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM), the declaration
of a “people’s defensive war” by the NUG in September
2021, the establishment of People’s Defence Forces
(PDFs) across the country, and the creation of informal
coalitions with Ethnic Armed Organizations (EAOs). On
the other hand, the military has increasingly relied upon
pro-military networks of armed civilians commonly
known as 'Pyu Saw Htee' to support their efforts and
expand reach where they do not have their own forces
or have insufficient presence.6
08
It has now been nearly two years since the Myanmar
Armed Forces (MAF) declared a state of emergency
and reinstituted control under a de facto authority
named the State Administration Council (SAC). The
state of emergency has been extended on a rolling
basis (currently until 1 February 2023). A 9 February
2021 order against freedom of assembly under
Penal Code 144 has not officially been lifted in 127
townships.7 With limited avenues for political dialogue,
the international community has partially looked to
the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)
as a way of facilitating engagement and humanitarian
access. However, the ASEAN process aimed at
resolving the political crisis in Myanmar and providing
humanitarian assistance through an agreed five-point
consensus, has faced challenges. A prisoner release
in November of 2022 which saw four high profile
international detainees freed was welcome but there
remain many thousands of other Myanmar political
prisoners detained in jails for their criticism of the de
facto authorities. A general election in Myanmar is
expected to be held in 2023 however there remains
uncertainty and concern around any future election
taking place in the current environment.
Throughout 2022, conflict, insecurity and displacement
continued to affect the lives of civilians on a much
wider scale, further compounding people’s already
stressed living conditions. Heading into 2023, the
situation remains precarious, with the security
environment fragile in many parts of Myanmar,
including areas that had largely been spared civil
conflict in recent years and the potential for unrest
related to any election process in 2023.
Access to services and assistance
Disregard for International Human Rights Law
(IHRL) and IHL by parties to the conflict is becoming
increasingly common, and the operating environment
for humanitarian workers has remained extremely
volatile, with attacks on education and health facilities
HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023
and personnel, despite the special legal protections
that apply. On 21 December 2022, the UN Security
Council adopted resolution 2669 in which it expressed
its deep concern about the situation and called for the
immediate end to all forms of violence in Myanmar
and urged restraint, the de-escalation of tensions and
the release of all prisoners. In reiterating the necessity
for full, safe and unhindered humanitarian access, the
Council underlined the need for scaled-up humanitarian
assistance to all people in need in Myanmar and the
need to ensure the full protection, safety and security
of humanitarian and medical personnel.8
Education
More than 13 million school age children have had their
education disrupted in multiple ways by the parallel
health, political and economic crises of the past two
years. Having already missed school across two
academic years due to the combined school closures
of the pandemic and the military takeover, 3.7 million
children are still out of school – some as a result of
the political preference of their parents for alternative
education provision, some as a result of education
services no longer being available or safely accessible
in their area, some because of attacks by conflict
actors and some because they can no longer afford to
send their children to school.
Similar to the previous year, the re-opening of
schools in June 2022 for the 2022-2023 academic
year happened against a backdrop of general stiff
resistance to the military takeover. Many teachers had
previously joined the CDM on the one hand, and on the
other, community distrust of the public school system
under the de facto authorities had increased. Many
teachers were either arrested, jailed, or dismissed
from service by the de facto authorities – causing an
immediate staffing challenge across the public and
formal education system. More families withdrew
children from public schools and formal education
streams and sought engagement in non-formal
education opportunities at the community level. As
such, there has been a surge in demand for alternative
education services. Communities are struggling to
meet this demand amid a general scarcity of almost
all essential resources, including money, infrastructure,
and trained personnel, as well as insufficient teaching
09
and learning materials. Such informal education
systems are at high risk of being targeted by the MAF,
including physical attacks, the arrest of teachers or
students, or the confiscation of learning materials.9
Increased poverty is affecting the capacity of
communities to cover the cost of alternative education
and the risk of children being sent to work instead
of to school is rising as family finances become
increasingly stressed. The rapidly increasing numbers
of displaced children, especially those living in informal
displacement sites, is creating logistical challenges
for the continuation of emergency education services
in many parts of the country. Stateless children,
whether in IDP camps or living in their own villages
and towns, face restrictions on their movement and
poor access to services, including education, due to
the lack of legal status. For these children, progress on
policies to address barriers to quality education have
been placed on hold by the de facto authorities since
February 2021.
Health
Myanmar has a long history of limited health
care featuring understaffed, underfunded, and
underequipped public and private hospitals, especially
in rural and remote areas. Where previously protracted
conflict had been affecting the provision of health
services mainly in Kachin, Rakhine, and northern
Shan, expanded conflict since the takeover is now
disrupting the provision of life-saving care nationwide.
Interruptions to public health programmes and services
were further compounded by the pandemic, attacks on
health care by conflict actors, and the post-takeover
CDM where tens of thousands of civil servants,
including in the health sector, went on strike to express
dissent and opposition. Ethnic and community-based
health organizations (EHOs) and alternative private
services are working to cover gaps, but the response
capacity is not commensurate with needs. Private
providers are also too expensive for many people
amid the current economic distress. Already in 2019
long before the current crisis, 76 per cent of health
care spending was out-of-pocket – among the highest
proportions in the world – and approximately 13 per
cent of the households spent more than 10 per cent
of their total income on health care - a level defined as
HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023
catastrophic health expenditure.10 This is only likely
to have worsened amid the further breakdown of the
public health system.
A decline in public spending on social services such
as health in the 2021 fiscal year marked a reversal
of year-on-year increases in spending by Myanmar
governments since 2011. Restrictions by the de facto
authorities on the import, transport and provision
of medical supplies are also having a devastating
impact on emergency and primary health care in
conflict areas.
Operating context
Despite heavy challenges, international and local
humanitarian organizations have remained committed
to the delivery of assistance to all people based on
needs and have stayed and delivered during the recent
crises, reaching at least 3.9 million people by the end
of September 2022 – a four-fold increase in people
being supported before the military takeover. However,
this assistance has not been as deep as planned due
to severe underfunding, access constraints and attacks
on humanitarian personnel, leaving considerable
unmet needs, especially in hard-to-reach conflict areas.
This is having a multiplier effect on needs in 2023.
Humanitarian operational space continues to shrink
amidst ongoing conflict, insecurity, and bureaucratic
access constraints.
An ACAPS analysis in mid-2022 placed Myanmar at
the highest ranking of humanitarian access constraints
(“Extreme Constraints”) across three access
dimensions, and listed Myanmar among three standout
crises globally that had shown a marked deterioration
regards to access of humanitarian agencies to people
in need.11 Additionally, Myanmar recorded the second
highest number of aid workers killed globally in 2022,
and the fourth highest number of aid workers injured
according to the Aid Worker Security Database as of
27 December 2022.12 ACAPS’ subsequent December
2022 analysis covering the preceding six months
kept Myanmar at the highest level of “Extreme
Constraints.” 13
10
Heading into 2023, aid workers are deeply concerned
about potential impacts of the newly passed
organization registration requirements on their
operating space and the delivery of life-saving
humanitarian assistance by partners, potentially
resulting in significant unmet needs. The humanitarian
community remains committed to staying and
delivering for the people of Myanmar, but as they stand,
the new requirements are likely to mean that many
people in need will miss out on the support they require
to survive in 2023.
Economic context
Since the military takeover in February 2021 and
the severe COVID waves the same year, Myanmar’s
economy and financial sector have been unstable
with a loss of jobs, as well as business and investor
confidence, currency devaluation and rampant
inflation. As of November 2022, the Myanmar Kyat had
depreciated on the market by more than 54 per cent
against the US dollar compared to the same time the
previous year.14 Inflation has skyrocketed, estimated to
have hit 16 per cent in 2022 before moderating to an
expected 8.5 per cent in 2023 which is the highest in
the region.15 Myanmar’s weakened economic activity
and trade led to the country’s GDP contracting by an
estimated 18 per cent in 2021.16 It is expected to have
grown by a mere 2 per cent in 2022 with an anticipated
expansion of 3 per cent in 2023.17 Estimates based
on the latest available data indicate that poverty has
roughly doubled compared to March 2020 levels, with
about 40 per cent of the population estimated to be
living below the national poverty line in 2022.18 This is
close to the levels of poverty a decade ago.19
This lack of a significant economic recovery
underscores the supply- and demand-side constraints
that continue to impact on economic activity,
including the sharp rise in the price of imports, partly
attributable to the war in Ukraine, elevated levels of
conflict, electricity outages, and persistent logistics
and financial sector disruptions.20 Fuel prices rose
dramatically in 2022, driven largely by the Ukraine
crisis, disrupting agricultural imports and fuel flows,
as well as by domestic factors, leading to rising
energy and food prices. International supply chain
disruptions deepened the socioeconomic stress on
HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023
Myanmar households nationwide. Inflation is causing
food affordability issues, with the average food basket
64 per cent more expensive than it was a year ago
which severely affects poor households.21 Farmers
are producing less food because they cannot afford
agricultural inputs like seeds and fertilizer. Access to
markets is also an issue with movement restrictions in
place in many parts of the country.
The economic deterioration over the last two years
badly hit the country’s burgeoning private small
business sector. In response to the uncertain business
climate, many foreign investors suspended or canceled
major building and infrastructure projects which would
have created new jobs.22 An estimated 1.6 million
jobs were lost in 2021. By mid-2022, there were still
1.1 million fewer women and men employed than
in 2020,23 although there are some early signs of
stabilization in the garment industry as 2022 draws
to a close. Policy shifts added to challenges for
businesses, and at the individual level, households
continue to face major constraints in accessing their
own money held in banks.
Social context
Women have been hit disproportionately by the
political and economic crises and their subsequent
economic impacts due to social norms around work,
disempowerment in the workplace and their traditional
role in their households and communities. In Myanmar,
women’s work was already concentrated in lower-paid
forms of employment, largely due to discriminatory
social norms that restrict women to jobs considered
“appropriate.” Traditional norms about what women
can and should do in Myanmar society present barriers
for women to advance into certain professions and
industries, as well as into positions of leadership within
the labour force.24 Considerable gender wage gaps
had already been identified within several industries,
with the average wages for female workers 29 per
cent lower than male average wages based on an
analysis from 2017.25
When the military takeover and COVID-19 hit the
country hard in 2020-21, an estimated 220,000 jobs
(27 per cent of the total workforce) in the garment
manufacturing industry alone were lost in 2021,
11
including employment in smaller enterprises down
the value chain. Women accounted for nearly 9 in
10 of these estimated employment losses. Between
2020 and 2021, an estimated 730,000 women lost or
left employment.26 This is a decline of nine per cent,
compared to seven per cent for men.27 During this
same period, female workers experienced working-
hour losses of 19 per cent, compared to 17 per cent
for male workers.28 In the first half of 2022, job losses
remained higher among women than men: total
employment was an estimated 5.4 per cent below
the levels for 2020, and 6.5 per cent lower among
female workers.29
Women who have lost employment may face limited
options for income generation, increasing the chance
they will rely on unsafe or informal work and making
them potentially more susceptible to trafficking.
Simultaneously, the worsening economic crisis has
seen a high number of men facing unemployment. In
some households, this may result in women playing
a dual role in the household, both as caretakers of
the house and income earners. Economic stress also
potentially exposes women and children to higher
rates of GBV in the home. Women are also being
disproportionately impacted by coping strategies
within families to survive this financial stress,
particularly in terms of access to food.30
A culture of both online social punishment and
persecution, mostly by those opposing the military
regime, is also affecting public discourse and
attitudes to humanitarian assistance being delivered
by aid organizations. Perceptions of complicity
or affiliation with either side are frequently met
with online “outing” or, in the worst cases, physical
harassment, detention, arrest and attacks. Against
this backdrop, humanitarian operating space is being
heavily politicized by all parties who are increasingly
viewing assistance through a transactional lens, rather
than based on need and humanitarian principles.
Humanitarian personnel must engage with all sides as
a practical necessity to ensure staff can safely enter
conflict areas to deliver assistance but political debate
about such engagement is making humanitarian
work much harder and is risking the safety of aid
workers bravely assisting people in need. Several
HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023
civil society organizations (CSOs) and international
non-government organizations (INGOs) remain the
target of investigations by the de facto authorities,
having had their offices raided, materials confiscated
and leaders arrested on allegations of assisting anti-
regime elements, ultimately affecting their delivery of
assistance and increasing unmet needs.31
Ethnicity and religion are also important social factors
in Myanmar life. Myanmar officially recognizes 135
distinct ethnic groups. Ethnicity remains the legal basis
of the 1982 citizenship law, which introduces three
categories of citizenship: citizen by birth or descent,
associate citizen, and naturalized citizen.32 Only
members of ethnic groups present in Myanmar prior
to 1823 are eligible for citizenship by birth.33 While it
is legally possible for those who do not fit into one of
these categories to obtain full citizenship by descent
after three generations in Myanmar, in practice and due
to discrimination, many of these people – including
Rohingya people and those of Indian or Chinese origin
– are restricted to the other categories of citizenship
or denied citizenship altogether.34 While ethnic conflict
is not new to Myanmar – particularly in the country’s
northeast (Kachin, Shan) and southeast (Kayin, Kayah)
where there are large Christian populations, and also
in Rakhine where Rohingya people reside and where
there are strong tensions with the Buddhist Rakhine
population – the current conflict has added a new
dimension, with many majority Buddhist Bamar areas
now also affected by conflict and the current economic
and political volatility.
Challenges around legal and policy frameworks
During the period of democratic transition which ended
abruptly in February 2021, the promotion of the rule
of law was a high political and public priority. The
former Government of Myanmar had referred to the
importance of strengthening the legal system for the
development of the country; however, progress had
been slow. Racial discrimination, gender stereotypes
and gaps in Myanmar’s legal and policy framework
continue to undermine safeguards and the ability
of specific groups to exercise their rights, including
stateless people, separated or unaccompanied
children, persons with disabilities, older people, female
or child-headed households and people of diverse
12
sexual orientation and gender identity and expression.
This work has now largely been derailed by the
military takeover.
Declarations of martial law and ongoing armed
conflict raise particular concerns for people’s access
to services and protections, especially for children,
given the suspension of legal safeguards provided
under the Child Rights Law. This is of concern because
the military justice system, unlike the civilian justice
system, does not include any special measures or
considerations for children. Since the military takeover,
arbitrary arrest and unlawful detention of adults and
children continue to be observed across the country.
Children have been the victims of attacks, airstrikes
and landmines, have been recruited as soldiers
and have been detained in military interrogation
facilities without any access to lawyers.35 Prior to
the military takeover, progress towards passing a
Prevention of Violence Against Women (PoVAW)
law, under development since 2013, stalled largely
due to a changeover in the Government at the time,
inconsistencies between the law and international legal
standards, and a process fraught with issues and lack
of consultation.
There has been no meaningful progress on the
Advisory Commission on Rakhine’s recommendations,
aimed at improving the welfare of all people in
Rakhine. An International Court of Justice action by
The Gambia continues regarding allegations under
the international Genocide Convention related to
the treatment of Rohingya people in 2016 and 2017.
Media statements by the de facto authorities on
citizenship and documentation since 1 February 2022
appear to fortify existing policies, impeding access to
citizenship and movement for already vulnerable and
largely stateless Rohingya people. While the closure
of IDP camps is regularly presented as evidence
of progress towards the Advisory Commission’s
recommendations, the need for safe, voluntary
return with freedom of movement and livelihood
prospects has not been properly acknowledged in
closure processes to date. The political situation,
combined with COVID-19 measures at the beginning
of 2022, significantly reduced access to legal services,
especially for stateless people, IDPs and people in
HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023
hard-to-reach areas seeking, among other things, civil
documentation and/or redress for Housing, Land and
Property (HLP) issues.
In its report to the Human Rights Council, the
Independent International Fact-Finding Mission
on Myanmar depicted the military as a perpetrator
of conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV) for acts
committed in 2017.36 Historically, CRSV has been
predominantly perpetrated by the military against
women, girls, sexual and gender minorities, and
men and boys from ethnic nationalities and minority
groups in Kachin, Kayah, Kayin, Rakhine, Shan and
elsewhere.37 However, following the military takeover,
reports of CRSV towards people in detention and of
Bamar ethnicity started to emerge.38 A long history of
documentation by women’s rights organizations across
many parts of Myanmar has consistently identified
the widespread nature of CRSV and lack of justice and
accountability.39
In 2018, a Joint Communiqué was signed between
the UN and the former Government of Myanmar. A
National Committee on CRSV was established by the
then Government in March 2019, and a national action
plan was drafted and shared with the UN. However, the
plan falls short of international standards, in particular,
the requirements under Security Council Resolution
2106 for a joint plan with the UN. Following the military
takeover, the de-facto authorities reconstituted the
National Committee in March 2021. In November
2021, the de facto authorities communicated via a
note verbale to the Office of the Special Representative
of the Secretary General for Sexual Violence in
Conflict (OSRSG-SVC) to inform her office that the
national action plan was finalized and shared. In
January 2022, the SRSG noted the update but did not
endorse the plan.
The Myanmar Military was also formally listed as a
perpetrator of sexual violence against children in 2017,
under the Children and Armed Conflict Agenda. As
of July 2022, no significant progress has been made
towards the development of a joint action plan on
sexual violence against children between the Myanmar
Military and the UN Country Task Force on Monitoring
and Reporting (CTFMR).
13
The near total collapse of public health and
formal justice systems, along with ongoing
telecommunications disruptions, security challenges
and insufficient referral support, significantly increase
barriers for survivors of abuse to access multi-sectoral
support. Access restrictions significantly hamper
reporting, monitoring, and verification of CRSV. Civil
society actors, including women’s rights organizations
who typically provide frontline response services,
are under considerable pressure. The worsening
security situation also sees members of civil society
targeted for arrest, forcing many individuals to flee,
and their organizations to significantly reduce visibility
of activities or shift to remote modalities, impacting
survivors’ access to their services. Increased
surveillance of online telecommunications has also
impacted virtual- and phone-based GBV and mental
health service provision by civil society including
women’s, youth and LGBTIQA+ organizations.
The worsening security situation increases the risk of
sexual violence by parties to the conflict, as well as
during aid distributions. Weak rule of law, lack of trust
in judicial and law enforcement mechanisms, the lack
of an impartial, effective civilian protection structures,
and the absence of support systems for survivors of all
forms of GBV, including CRSV, foster an environment
where perpetrators of GBV and CRSV can operate
without fear of repercussions, and where survivors do
not seek help due to fear or lack of trust. Disruption
to the formal justice sector has resulted in a greater
reliance on informal justice systems.
People on the move
The spread of conflict has driven displacement
far beyond the 2022 HNO/HRP planning figure of
556,000. As of 26 December, the total number of
IDPs in Myanmar stood at 1.5 million people. Of the
total, nearly 1.2 million people were newly displaced
by armed conflict and unrest since 1 February 2021
and remain in overcrowded or otherwise inadequate
displacement sites, often in jungles and forests.
People are often displaced multiple times (cyclical
displacement). This depletes people’s assets over time,
exposes them to protection risks, and forces people to
resort to negative coping mechanisms or to become
fully reliant on humanitarian assistance.
HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023
• The Northwest (Chin, Magway, and Sagaing) now
hosts the largest number of IDPs across Myanmar,
with close to 800,000 people taking refuge there
as of 26 December 2022. From early January to
end November 2022, the total number of IDPs in
the Northwest multiplied by a factor of five (from
about 150,000 in early January).
• The security situation in the Southeast (eastern
Bago, Kayah, Kayin, Mon, southern Shan, and
Tanintharyi) continues to feature ongoing armed
clashes between the MAF and EAOs and/or
PDFs, displacing an estimated 350,000 (as of
26 December 2022), the majority of whom were
displaced following the resumption of armed
conflict in March 2021.
• In Kachin and northern Shan, the ongoing armed
conflict has newly displaced nearly 22,000
people since 1 February 2021 on top of the
100,500 people already in situations of protracted
displacement since 2011.
• In Rakhine, an estimated 600,000 Rohingya people
(including almost 130,000 Rohingya IDPs in
central Rakhine and some 470,000 non-displaced
stateless Rohingya people) mostly remain without
identity documents and are subject to heavy
restrictions on movement, limiting their access to
livelihoods, and essential services. In Rakhine and
southern Chin, new displacement as a result of the
reignited AA-MAF conflict has further complicated
the context and is driving escalating needs. As of
5 December 2022, AA-MAF clashes had resulted
in the new displacement of 23,350 people since
August 2022, taking the total number of IDPs from
past and present AA-MAF conflict to 97,000.
• As of 26 December 2022, more than 49,800
had been displaced to neighboring India since
February 2021.40
The number of IDPs who have returned, resettled,
or locally integrated in the first 8 months of 2022 is
estimated to be around 305,600, although some who
returned will have been re-displaced since and are
likely to be in the future. Returns are far outweighed by
new displacement, particularly in the Northwest and
Southeast. At the same time, nearly 1 million Myanmar
refugees are still living in huge, overcrowded camps in
Bangladesh where there remain severe protection and
14
security concerns, with conditions not yet suitable for
their safe and voluntary return to Myanmar.
Prospects of finding durable solutions seem isolated
for most IDPs, and the escalation and continuation
of conflict in 2022 presented serious setbacks to
the modest return solutions being explored for
protracted IDPs. Ongoing conflict, safety concerns
and uncertainties, hamper the realization of durable
solutions for IDPs in the foreseeable future although
the humanitarian community continues to search
for opportunities wherever safe. Insecurity and the
presence or movement of armed actors in IDPs’ home
communities has compounded pre-existing challenges,
in addition to landmine contamination, movement
restrictions, lack of HLP rights and limited access
to basic services in villages of origin. With isolated
exceptions, available options for IDPs are mostly
limited to local integration or resettlement in urban
and peri-urban locations, benefiting a small number
of people with the resources to sustain their lives
in such a setting. The camp closure process being
pursued by the de facto authorities remains of great
concern with regard to humanitarian principles such
as voluntariness, as well as the safety and dignity of
IDPs and of the communities they plan to reintegrate
into. The premature push for returns in some areas
may pose various protection risks, including around
people’s physical safety and security as well as overall
well-being and livelihoods.
Explosive ordnance (EO) contamination
Landmines, explosive remnants of war (ERWs),
unexploded ordnance (UXO) and improvised explosive
devices (IEDs) continue to pose severe protection risks
and threats to civilians, including women and children.
Even before the current crisis, Myanmar was already
heavily contaminated with explosive ordnance after
decades of internal armed conflict between the military
and ethnic armed organizations. Now, with the spread
of fighting, 12 regions and states are thought to be
contaminated to some degree and this will be a deadly
legacy of the conflict for decades to come.
• UNICEF monitoring of landmine and ERW incidents
during the first 10 months of 2022 shows that the
number of casualties reported countrywide (333
HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023
casualties as a result of 196 separate incidents)
now stands at 117 per cent of the total reported
casualties in 2021 (284 reported from 169
incidents).41
• In terms of regional breakdown, Shan accounted
for 35 per cent of the total casualties followed by
Sagaing with 16 per cent, Rakhine with 11 per cent,
Kachin with 10 per cent and Chin with 9 per cent,
respectively.
• The combination of the other areas (Bago, Kayin,
Kayah, Magway, Mandalay, Mon and Tanintharyi)
shouldered 19 per cent of the total casualties.
• Children represented 32 per cent of casualties
from landmine/ERW explosions countrywide.
Infrastructure and technology
Banking sector
While cash liquidity constraints have partially eased
in 2022, increased financial restrictions severely
limited the response capacity of many humanitarian
organizations, leading to unmet needs. Delays and
excessive documentation requests are common, and
for partners who do not have valid registration and
Memorandums of Understanding (MoU) in place,
receiving funds in Myanmar is increasingly challenging.
In April 2022, the Central Bank of Myanmar (CBM)
issued a formal notification to individuals, companies,
and other organizations in Myanmar that they would
be converting all existing and new foreign currency
income from abroad to Myanmar Kyat within one
working day of receipt. As a result, many partners
suddenly faced the prospect of their USD balances
in their bank accounts converted into Myanmar Kyat
and additionally faced restrictions on withdrawing
this cash. While there were exemptions granted to
UN Agencies and some INGOs later, it remains an
issue for others, including national NGOs. The new
foreign exchange rules caused further disruptions
for businesses, leading to additional price spikes and
fears of fuel shortages, underscored by the long lines
witnessed at petrol stations in mid-April.
In August 2022, the CBM also issued new guidance
reminding mobile money operators to comply
with requirements under mobile financial service
15
regulations. This includes the enforcement of Know
Your Customer (KYC) principles for all transactions,
including level one over-the-counter transactions. This
has created challenges for humanitarian programs,
given that many people receiving assistance do not
have acceptable identification documents or feel
uncomfortable sharing that information with the
mobile money companies. This has led to significant
obstacles for organizations wanting to distribute
directly to participants via mobile financial services.
In October 2022, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF)
placed Myanmar on its list of high-risk jurisdictions
(blacklist) due to “serious strategic deficiencies to
counter money laundering, terrorist financing, and
financing of proliferation.”42 As of writing, the full extent
of the impact of the FATF listing and related enhanced
due diligence measures, particularly those related to
funding flows for humanitarian assistance, is still to
be determined and remains highly dependent on any
additional sanctions that may be imposed by Member
States. There is potential for further de-risking by
regional and global financial institutions and a loss
of faith in Myanmar’s financial institutions, leading
to delays in payments and increased documentation
requirements.
Communications
Myanmar’s online space has been steadily shrinking
since the military takeover, and in 2022, it has become
one of the countries with the least internet freedom.
In the Global Internet Freedom report, out of a total
score of 100, Myanmar dropped from 17 points in
2021 to only 12 points in 2022. Myanmar’s score for
internet accessibility out of a total of 25 dropped from
4 points in 2021 to 2 points in 2022.43 Communities
have experienced targeted internet shutdowns,
creating communication blackholes that cut access
to information and stifle dissent. Significant price
hikes for data usage and phone calls, along with SIM
card registration requirements, also hinder further
communications.
In February 2021, the de facto authorities banned
Facebook and WhatsApp, which were being used to
organize demonstrations against the military takeover
and instructed providers to block Instagram and
HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023
Twitter shortly after. Later, the de facto authorities
blocked more than 200 websites under Section 77 of
the Telecommunications Law as part of the military’s
campaign against what it claims is “misinformation.”
This campaign of censorship intensified over the
following months. With the aim of bringing Myanmar’s
telecommunications sector under its control, the de
facto authorities ordered the two companies operating
in the country to hand over all their customer data.
Disruptions to internet connectivity and mobile
networks across many parts of the country are
frequent, especially in areas of conflict such as the
Northwest and Southeast. The military imposed more
internet shutdowns than any country last year, aside
from India, with 15 blackouts according to Access
Now.44 In some areas such as Sagaing, the blackouts
are ongoing. Regional shutdowns have been reported
and continue across Chin, Kayah, Kachin, Magway,
and Mandalay, where intense fighting between the
MAF and EAOs and/or PDFs is ongoing. Recurring
internet shutdowns have been recorded in at least 54
townships across the country.
Regular disruption of internet connectivity and the
mobile network leaves people, particularly those
impacted by the ongoing conflict, without access to key
online services, cutting off visibility of early warning
systems, information, and two-way communication.
This has made access to complaint and feedback
mechanisms extremely challenging. People's ability
to report violations of their rights has also been
hampered. Those attempting to flee have limited
means to find out information to keep themselves safe,
such as where attacks may be launched.
People are often unable to transfer or receive funds
as they are cut off from mobile payment services.
People have limited ways to share health information
or receive medical attention, in violation of their right
to health, and risks of GBV have been exacerbated with
reduced means to seek out online help. Meanwhile,
children who were already unable to receive in-school
education are being cut out of online means of
learning, leading to an increasing number of school
dropouts and reported cases of child marriage.
Humanitarian actors who remain in the country
16
struggle to monitor and report on the situation and are
often unable to communicate safely with each other to
provide essential aid.
Natural environment and disaster risk
Myanmar has largely relied on natural resource
exploitation to sustain economic growth, and serious
environmental issues are emerging. There are
growing concerns around the impacts of large-scale
development, including deforestation, depletion of
inland and coastal fisheries, land degradation, flooding
and landslides, biodiversity loss, and the deterioration
of water and air quality. Natural ecosystems such
as mangroves and forests play an important role in
mitigating against the effects of various hazards;
however, Myanmar’s landscape is changing. Satellite
imagery indicates Myanmar to be one of the top ten
countries globally for deforestation, with mangroves
being an important protective ecosystem in coastal
areas that is now disappearing even more rapidly than
other types of forests.45
Air quality is increasingly compromised, as industrial
and mining discharge and urban waste bring new and
increasing environmental health issues. Air pollution,
a risk factor for death, is higher in Myanmar than in
other countries in the region and is almost twice the
average for Southeast Asia.46 For Myanmar youth aged
5 to 14 years, particulate matter pollution is the leading
risk factor for death among all risk factors, including
malnutrition and other behavioural risks.47
Already one of the most disaster-prone countries in
the world, Myanmar is now ranked the second most
affected country by the impacts of extreme climate
events over the last two decades, based on the Global
Climate Risk Index score.48 Its location puts it at risk of
heatwaves, flooding, and cyclones. The World Wildlife
Fund projects the sea level along Myanmar’s coast in
the Southwest to rise between 20 and 41 centimeters
by 2050, exacerbating existing levels of widespread
flooding in coastal areas.49
Changing climate and environmental degradation
are influencing the frequency and severity of natural
hazards in Myanmar and have the potential to
severely affect life-sustaining agriculture. Extreme
HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023

flooding, which exceeds communities’ capacity to
cope, has been more frequent over the past decade.
An estimated 28 million people live in districts with
a high risk of flood exposure in at least part of the
district area, mainly along Myanmar’s coasts, the
Ayeyarwady River and in Kayin. Cyclones and major
storms are expected to become more intense as
ocean temperatures increase, with residents of
Rakhine anticipated to have a higher likelihood of
being affected. Drought is another natural hazard that
is becoming significantly more likely as a result of
climate change. The Ayeyarwady Delta, Central Dry
Zone, and Northern and Eastern Hill regions are more
likely to experience drought than other areas, whereas
Kayah and Shan had the highest risk of negative
impacts in recent periods of severe drought.50 This may
have serious consequences for agricultural output and
the country’s capacity to feed itself.
Myanmar is also highly susceptible to earthquakes
with a number of cities and major centers sitting on
fault lines. Tremors are frequently felt in many parts
of the country.

AYEYARWADY
A woman and her 8-month old child receive micronutrient supplements as part
of a community-based nutrition programme in Ayeyarwady, 2022.
Credit: UNICEF/World Vision

17
HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023

Response by Strategic Objective

The strategic objectives (SOs) for the 2023 HRP have
been developed to reflect the drastic deterioration
and deepening of the humanitarian crisis in Myanmar,
marked by a surge in violence that has prompted an
unprecedented scale of civilian displacement and
caused multi-dimensional impacts and disruptions
including the loss of livelihoods, near collapse of
critical health and education systems, and extensive
damage to private properties and public facilities.
The 2022 HRP objectives were particularly focused on
ensuring life-saving assistance reached those affected
by conflict and disaster, while also maintaining a
broader focus on assistance to vulnerable people in
the wider community, including in urban areas who
had acute humanitarian needs or were at risk of
slipping into high levels of vulnerability due to conflict,
COVID-19 and natural disaster. With the deterioration
of humanitarian conditions, the 2023 SOs more
heavily prioritize the most insecure populations,
especially IDPs (both new and protracted), returnees,
non-displaced stateless people and other crisis-
affected people facing acute humanitarian needs.
The SOs have been re-ordered, to re-emphasize the
centrality of protection to the response this year,
amid worsening conflict. In 2023, partners will seek
to identify, mitigate and address protection needs,
prevent or reduce mortality, and ensure timely
access to essential services to prevent deterioration
of humanitarian needs among the worst-affected
groups. The SOs are structured in such a way
as to facilitate more aligned and less complex
monitoring of the response in 2023 – something
that had been challenging for many local partners in
2022. Throughout the development of the strategy,
significant work has been done to ensure robust
cross-sectoral planning for a more holistic and
complementary response.
The number of people targeted for assistance under
the three SOs is not cumulative. While people can
fall under more than one SO, they will be counted
only once towards the overall number of 4.5 million
unique individuals targeted for assistance under
the 2023 HRP.

STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE PEOPLE TARGETED REQUIREMENTS (US$)*

Protection risks and needs are identified, monitored, mitigated, and

met for 2.1 million people, while the centrality of protection is upheld
S01 across the humanitarian response including through promotion 2.1M 125M
of respect for human rights, international humanitarian law and
humanitarian principles

Suffering, morbidity, and mortality is prevented or reduced among 3.1

million displaced, returned, stateless and other crisis-affected people
S02 3.1M 350M
experiencing or at risk of food insecurity, malnutrition, and health
threats

At least 2 million displaced, returned, stateless and other crisis-

affected people have safe, tailored, timely and dignified access to the
S03 2M 289M
essential services and support to ensure their survival and prevent
deterioration of their humanitarian needs

* Coordination and Common Services costs have been split proportionally across the three strategic objectives.

18
HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023

HRP Key Figures

Planned Humanitarian Response by Targeted Group Planned Humanitarian Response for Persons
More on page 115 - 117 with Disabilities
POPULATION GROUP PEOPLE IN NEED PEOPLE More on page 116 - 117
TARGETED
PEOPLE PEOPLE IN NEED
IN NEED TARGETED TARGET
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4
IDPs (projection)
1.7M 2.1M 2.4M 2.7M 1.6M Persons with
2.3M 602K
disabilities
Returned, resettled and Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4
locally integrated IDPs
0.3M 0.4M 0.5M 0.5M 183K
(projection)

Non-displaced stateless Financial Requirements by Cluster

0.4M 447K
people
More on page 63 - 113
Other crisis-affected FINANCIAL # OF OPERATIONAL
people with humanitarian 14M 2.3M REQUIREMENTS (US$) PARTNERS
needs

Education 86M 75

Food Security 192M 71

Planned Humanitarian Response by Sex
Health 106M 72
More on page 116 - 117
PEOPLE
Nutrition 48M 35
PEOPLE IN NEED % OF PIN
IN NEED TARGETED TARGET TARGETED
Protection 124M 77
Boys 2.7M 744K 28%
Shelter/NFI/CCCM 88M 57
Girls 2.9M 818K 28%
WASH 112M 45
Men 5.7M 1.4M 25%
Coordination 7M 219
Women 6.3M 1.5M 24%

Planned Humanitarian Response by Cluster

Planned Humanitarian Response by Age More on page 63 - 113
More on page 116 - 117 PEOPLE PEOPLE IN NEED % OF PIN
IN NEED TARGETED TARGET TARGETED
PEOPLE PEOPLE IN NEED % OF PIN
IN NEED TARGETED TARGET TARGETED
Education 3.8M 1.3M 35%
Children
5.6M 1.6M 29% Food Security 15.2M 2.1M 14%
(0 - 18)
Health 10M 2.3M 23%
Adults
10.1M 2.4M 24%
(18 - 59)
Nutrition 2.2M 590K 27%
Elderly
1.9M 459K 24% Protection 11.5M 2.1M 18%
(60+)
Shelter/NFI/CCCM 3M 952K 31%

WASH 5.2M 1.6M 32%

20
HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023
Historical Trends and New Methodology
Given the dramatic deterioration in the situation over
the course of 2022, projections of displacement,
anticipated conflict scenarios, the depth of needs in
new areas, and the overall deterioration of the food
security and livelihoods situation country-wide as
outlined in the HNO, the HCT has continued using a
broad national analysis of the humanitarian situation,
needs and planned responses in Myanmar for 2023.
The 2023 numbers reflect the unprecedented scale
and humanitarian consequences of the current crises,
especially for women and children and other vulnerable
groups. The methodology and scope frame the
situation in Myanmar as a whole-of-country, complex
and multi-dimensional crisis, where there are grave
protection concerns and risks, and food insecurity
is deepening, requiring scaled-up humanitarian and
development interventions to stop people slipping into
more severe need, including acute malnutrition.
Several larger datasets are available and have been
used to establish intersectoral vulnerability in 2023. A
multi-sector needs analysis (MSNA) was conducted
across Myanmar for the first time using a hybrid
approach (in person and remote data collection) in late
2022 to inform planning. The joint Food Security and
Livelihoods Assessment by FAO andWFP conducted
in 2021, was again carried out in April 2022 and once
more between August and September 2022 in 14
states and regions (Ayeyarwady, Bago, Chin, Kachin,
Kayah, Kayin, Magway, Mandalay, Mon, Rakhine,
Sagaing, Shan, Tanintharyi, Yangon). These datasets
were combined with a range of other thematic (e.g.
gender, AAP) and sectoral data sources to guide the
understanding of needs and plan required assistance.
The continued use of this national frame, combined
with the worsening situation on the ground, has
resulted in the identification of an even greater number
of people in need in the HNO 2023. It is important
to note that the numbers for 2023 can be compared
fairly well with the HNO 2022 numbers, as a similar
21
methodology has been used in both years. HNOs
prior to 2022, however, did not assess or analyze
needs in some of these new areas and population
groups, because they were outside the HNO scope and
thus no baseline data exists for these locations for
comparison. While the situation has certainly seriously
deteriorated since 1 February 2021, it is possible that
at least some of the newly included needs may have
existed in previous years.
In terms of response trends, in 2022 partners
demonstrated their capacity to scale up, reaching
at least 3.9 million people from the HRP target of
6.2 million people by the end of September (final
full-year figures will only become available in quarter
one of 2023). This effort reflects the unprecedented
expansion of need in 2021, which led to the HCT
setting a drastically more ambitious target for the
response in 2022 compared to previous years. The
expansion shows the operation’s commitment to
identifying and working with new partners, mostly
local organizations and organizations previously
working under development and other pillars, to
expand delivery. However, it should be noted that
food security supportstill represented the bulk of this
scale-up and there was less capacity and space to
increase other forms of assistance on the same scale
by other clusters in 2022. The assistance delivered
was not as multi-sectoral or as weighted towards new
conflict areas as planned due to underfunding and
access constraints. The depth of assistance remained
limited in many locations, with many partners unable
to provide sustained and predictable aid. A lack of
funding was a major additional factor with just 35 per
cent of requirements received by year’s end. This was
only slightly more than the funding received in 2021
despite a roughly 14-fold increase on pre-takeover
needs and a more than 6-fold increase in people
being targeted for assistance. This lack of secure
funding has made it even more difficult to procure and
pre-position necessary supplies. It has also hampered
HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023

the efforts of organizations to internally scale-up with
no guarantees of funding for core costs.
In 2023, humanitarian partners have tightened and
re-focused their targets compared to 2022 for two
key reasons. After a pause in many activities in 2022,
development actors have re-grouped and are now
scaling-up, supporting those who are at risk of slipping
into humanitarian need with programming that is
more appropriately focused on resilience, prevention,
and improved living-conditions. The tighter target for
the 2023 HRP is partially based on the assumption
that development actors will continue to scale up,
working through community partners, and will be
guided by the severity of need, targeting people
facing multiple vulnerabilities. As such, the 2023
HRP focuses on emergency, life-saving responses
in the most conflict-affected areas where needs are
deeper and development action and access is more
limited. Some critical preventative programming has,
however, been retained in the HRP where relevant to
the humanitarian population groups, such as children’s
nutrition programming. The tightening of the response
target also reflects the realities that both funding and
access in 2023 are expected to remain increasingly
constrained. With a series of mega-crises sweeping
the world, donors have made clear that humanitarians
must heavily prioritize their plans so that people in the

NUMBER OF PEOPLE IN NEED VS TARGETED FOR ASSISTANCE FINANCIAL REQUIREMENTS (US$)

People targeted Funded

People in need not targeted Unmet requirements

20M $1000M

$800M
15M

$600M
10M
$400M

5M
$200M

0M $0M
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021* 2022 2023 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021* 2022 2023

YEAR OF APPEAL PEOPLE IN NEED PEOPLE TARGETED REQUIREMENTS (US$) FUNDING RECEIVED (US$) % FUNDED

2015 541K 536K 190M 143M 75%

2016 1M 1M 190M 116M 61%

2017 525K 525K 150M 117M 78%

2018 863K 832K 183M 131M 72%

2019 1M 1M 214M 172M 80%

2020 986K 915K 275M 184M 67%

2021 * 3M 3M 386M 259M 67%

2022 14.4M 6.2M 826M 291M 35%

2023 17.6M 4.5M 764M

* For 2021, these figures represent the combined totals of the HRP and IERP.

22
HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023

most severe need get more help, faster and for longer.
Humanitarians have also been realistic about access
in the now more heavily prioritized hard-to-reach areas.
While humanitarians have demonstrated in 2022 that
access to these conflict zones is possible, it is also
more expensive and slower, reaches fewer people each
time. Partners have planned in line with expectations
that the financial and access challenges of 2022 will
continue into 2023. Full year reach in 2022 will only be
confirmed after publication of this response plan but
is expected to be around 4.3 million people. Amid the
worsening conditions, reduced operating space and
limits on funding outlined above, the HCT has decided
to be realistic in aiming to slightly increase reach in
2023 to 4.5 million people.

KACHIN
A child gets water using a hand pump installed by community members in a
new IDP settlement in Kachin, 2022. UNHCR/Hkun Ring

23
HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023

Part 1:
Strategic Response Priorities

YANGON
A mother carries home emergency food assistance in an impoverished township
in Yangon, 2022. Credit: WFP/Htet Oo Lin

24
HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023
1.1
Humanitarian Conditions and Underlying Factors Targeted
for Response
The 1 February 2021 military takeover unleashed
an unprecedented political, socioeconomic, and
humanitarian crisis on top of the continuing impact of
the pandemic. The situation resulted in the escalation
in conflict and displacement across the country,
significant human suffering, and disruption to and
reversal of many of the hard-won development gains
over the preceding decade.
Nearly two years on, the situation remains bleak
requiring a deeper response. Violence, including
attacks and clashes, across Myanmar throughout
2022 had a severe impact on the physical and mental
well-being of millions. Displacement surged in 2022.
Nearly 1.2 million people remain internally displaced
as a result of conflict and insecurity since the takeover,
bringing the total number of IDPs in Myanmar to a
staggering 1.5 million as of 26 December 2022. On
top of this, the rapid depreciation of the Myanmar Kyat,
inflated market prices, and banking restrictions have
led to reduced food productivity and unaffordability,
driving higher food insecurity.
In parallel with the escalation of conflict, displacement,
and food insecurity, humanitarian access was
further restricted in 2022. Administrative barriers for
securing TAs, arrests and detention of humanitarian
actors, intimidation, and harassment (both
physical and virtual), and security checkpoints all
constrained humanitarian access to people in need
in 2022. Restrictions on telecommunications and
internet networks further hindered timely and safe
humanitarian access and assistance to people in need.
Evolution of needs 2022-2023
With no respite from violence in sight, 2023 is
expected to be another deeply challenging year for
the people of Myanmar. 2023 is expected to witness
25
continued political instability, ongoing or escalating
armed civil and ethnic conflict, slow or stagnant
economic growth and limited livelihoods opportunities,
as well as continued interruptions and poor access to
basic services, including education and health. This
will result in nearly 18 million people being in need of
humanitarian assistance during the year.
Continued or increased intensity and frequency
of armed conflict will result in communities being
displaced as a self-protective measure against the
risk of targeted attacks or being caught in areas
where armed clashes are occurring. Protection risks,
especially in hard-to-reach conflict areas, are expected
to continue, including increased EO risks, forced
recruitment, human trafficking, and human rights
violations. Agricultural disruptions due to conflict
and displacement, contaminated land, and high input
prices will heavily impact the national economy and
food availability. The people of Myanmar will be
confronted with continued elevated food prices, food
insecurity and corresponding malnutrition. On top of
this, natural disasters remain a recurrent threat with
annual flooding across many parts of the country.
Through it all, people will have reduced capacity to
cope with these shocks due to the cumulative impacts
of the current and past crises. Modest improvement
in economic growth has been predicted, however
inflation will continue to cripple households who are
unable to afford food and other essentials. Continuing
economic distress, loss of livelihoods and an ongoing
cash crisis are likely moving into 2023. Access
challenges and restrictions are expected to persist
given the political situation, as well as the continued
conflict, leaving unmet needs.
Conflict and violence are expected to remain the key
drivers of humanitarian need and will result in more
HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023
communities being displaced. Based on an analysis
of conflict and displacement trends, the Needs
Monitoring and Analysis Working Group (NMAWG) has
projected that an estimated 1.4 million people will be
newly displaced in 2023, bringing the total projected
number of IDPs to nearly 2.7 million people by the end
of the year. Total returnees (from previous years and
new in 2023) are projected to reach a total of 512,000
people by the end of 2023 but will be far outweighed
by new displacement.51 In particular, the Northwest
and Southeast of the country will likely see continued
conflict, as well as potentially Rakhine depending on
the durability of the current informal ceasefire between
the AAA and the MAF. Given these dynamics, new
and protracted displacement will remain a key feature
of the humanitarian situation throughout 2023, with
displacement expected at similar or higher rates than
2022. Projections will be closely monitored throughout
the year and responses recalibrated should actual
numbers be higher or lower. IDPs will face precarious
situations in the following locations:
• Kachin and northern Shan: The rate of returns will
likely remain low; however, there is a fear of forced
returns among IDPs in protracted camps. There is
potential for spontaneous returns due to reduced
humanitarian support in camps due to funding and
access challenges, along with the loss of livelihood
opportunities and agricultural land for IDPs.
• Southeast: Displacement is expected to expand
to more urban, populated locations. Communities
note that natural resources (such as bamboo,
timber, and firewood) are almost exhausted,
which could later lead to conflict between host
communities and IDPs.
• Northwest: Severe access restrictions may push
people into deeper need, as resources are already
very scarce for IDPs with food and medicine
shortages in many locations reaching saturation
point. More communities may be forced to seek
safety in the jungle, where it is difficult to access
and provide assistance. Further destruction
of villages will prevent people from being able
to return home.
• Rakhine and southern Chin: IDPs from the AA-MAF
conflict remain worried about return due to EO
contamination and lack of livelihoods. More
26
displacement may be seen depending on whether
the current ceasefire holds. The plight of the
stateless population is unlikely to improve unless
significant policy changes are introduced changing
the legal status of Rohingya people and their
freedom of movement.
As we enter 2023, a steadily increasing number of
people have exhausted their coping capacity and are
at risk of or have already slipped into urgent need of
assistance. Hardship, driven by conflict and insecurity,
price shocks as a result of inflation, and movement
restrictions, has forced the most vulnerable people
to resort to crisis or emergency coping mechanisms
to access food and other basic needs. The economic
situation facing many households is forcing people
to make incredibly tough decisions about spending
priorities and assets that can be sold. In 2022, six out
of seven people reported that they have been forced to
resort to negative coping strategies to survive, such as
taking on debt to pay for food, affecting their capacity
to manage future shocks. Households adopting
emergency coping strategies such as taking high risk
jobs, migrating in search of opportunities, and selling
productive assets such as working animals, houses
and land, increased in 2022 to 21 per cent, from 15 per
cent in 2021.52
According to the fourth round of the FAO/WFP Food
Security and Livelihoods Assessment conducted
in August and September 2022, female-headed
households are more reliant on negative coping
mechanisms than their male counterparts and will
require specific response attention:
• Borrowing food is more common among female-
headed households than male-headed households
(21 per cent vs. 16 per cent).
• More female-headed households reported
limiting portion sizes in the week prior to the data
collection than male-headed households (19 per
cent vs. 15 per cent).
• More female-headed households had been forced
to sell household assets than male-headed
households (51 per cent vs. 43 per cent).
• More female-headed households were relying on
their savings to meet their food needs in the month
HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023
prior to the data collection than male-headed
households (76 per cent vs. 69 per cent).
For IDPs, displacement means families are not only
forced to leave their homes, but also their work and
sources of livelihood, exacerbating their vulnerability.
IDPs have adopted different means to cope with
shortfalls, including buying on credit, borrowing food
and money (with/without interest), child labour, early
marriage for women, reducing food consumption,
accepting low wage work, drug involvement, and
requesting donations.
The humanitarian situation and human rights crisis
caused by the military takeover will continue to have
severe and long-lasting impacts on the mental health
and psychosocial well-being of people, in particular
children, persons with disabilities, the elderly and those
facing multiple vulnerabilities. Internally displaced and
conflict-affected people are reportedly anxious about
their health and future and are becoming increasingly
focused on survival. Living in a perpetual state of
fear is taking a psychological toll on the population,
especially women and children.
Scope of action and response priorities
In 2023, the HRP prioritizes emergency life-saving
responses for 4.5 million acutely vulnerable people
with humanitarian and protection needs as a result
of the above shocks and the deteriorating political,
humanitarian, and socioeconomic situations. In 2023,
this work will require operational partners to navigate
a complex environment featuring challenges related
not only to the worsening security and armed conflict,
but also a banking and liquidity crisis, disruptions to
logistics and supply chains, increasing restrictions
at checkpoints, and administrative and bureaucratic
impediments.
Given the available funds, access constraints and
partner capacity, clusters have applied a strict
prioritization approach. The strategic focus of the
2023 HRP is to relieve immediate suffering among
the most severely affected groups with an emphasis
on conflict-affected areas. This means the majority of
the response will proportionally target IDPs, returnees,
27
resettled, and locally integrated IDPs, non-displaced
stateless people, and host communities. Similarly,
hard-to-reach, rural areas and those with the most
severe needs will be prioritized over urban areas,
such as Mandalay, Nay Pyi Taw, and Yangon (which
made up a significant portion of the 2022 target
due to COVID-related impacts), while taking into
consideration realistic potential reach given the current
access and capacity constraints. Essential services
and support will be provided to ensure the survival
of the most vulnerable populations and to prevent
further deterioration of their humanitarian needs. This
prioritization of locations and certain types of support
has been heavily guided by the views expressed by
affected people as outlined in the HNO. Compared to
the 2022 HRP, the health response is more ambitious
in 2023 given the gradual disintegration of the public
health system and the increased need for alternative
service provision.
Addressing people’s protection needs remains critical,
requiring enhanced respect for humanitarian principles,
IHL and IHRL, as well as attention ot commuity-
based protection mechanisms. The integration of
protection mainstreaming is a cross-cutting objective
among clusters in 2023 and the cost of this work has
been fully and transparently integrated into the HRP
calculations by all clusters for the first time.
It is hoped that other crisis-affected people and those
in urban areas who are not targeted for humanitarian
assistance will receive priority nexus or development
support, particularly social safety-net assistance,
improved living standards support, and resilience-
building activities aimed at tackling people struggling
to cope amid economic distress. Progress with the
scale-up of nexus and development programming
under the SERRP will be closely monitored and a
mid-year stock-take will look at whether needs are
adequately being funded and met under this umbrella.
If not, then the HRP scope will be re-evaluated.
Similarly, depending on progress against targets,
operating challenges and capacity, the mid-year
reporting process will identify the need for any course
corrections and inform settings for the second
half of the year.
HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023
Clusters considered the severity and urgency of
needs across the country, prioritizing those in the
most severe categories, where they had capacity to
respond. The basis for this analysis was the Joint
Inter-sectoral Analysis Framework (JIAF) from the
HNO. The JIAF looks holistically at the needs facing
people in Myanmar and measures the severity of
these needs, informed primarily by two nationwide
assessments - the MSNA and the Food Security and
Livelihood Assessment. There is a clear correlation
between those areas and sectors with the highest
severity of need in the HNO, and the highest exposure
to active conflict, and those prioritized for assistance
in the 2023 HRP.
Amidst reduced access and capacity, partners have
planned for a more heavily localized response. Through
a new Localization Strategy that is under development
following the P-2-P review of the response in 2022, the
HCT and ICCG will explore avenues for more equitable
partnerships in 2023, including ways to avoid risk- and
SHAN
Nursing mothers attend a nutrition couselling session on infant and young child feeding
practices in eastern Shan, 2022: Credit: UNICEF
28
cost-transfer to local partners. This includes, but is
not limited to:
• Organizational support to local partners so
they are better equipped and trained for work
in complicated and sensitive settings, as well
as boosting their scope to meet normative
expectations more fully.
• Financial support to cover their core staffing and/
or security-related expenses.
• Working towards equitable partnerships principles,
mutually agreed between donors, recipient
agencies, organizations and implementers.
Population groups and lenses of analysis
Nearly one third of Myanmar’s population continues
to experience severe humanitarian challenges.
Humanitarian organizations estimate that more than
17.6 million people will be in need of some form of
humanitarian support during 2023. The Plan focuses
on four key population groups:
HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023
• IDPs
• Returnees, resettled and locally integrated IDPs
• Non-displaced stateless people
• Other crisis-affected people with
humanitarian needs
Among these population groups, needs are generally
most severe among IDPs and the non-displaced
stateless people in Rakhine, particularly in locations
most affected by armed conflict, although pockets
of severe need occur across all population groups.
Underlying gender dynamics, which are often
compounded by poverty, displacement status, ethnicity
and other factors, create additional vulnerabilities
among women and girls.
Geographically, needs of people in these population
groups in Kachin and northern Shan, Rakhine and
southern Chin, the Northwest, Southeast, and
rural areas have been prioritized. Humanitarian
organizations have identified humanitarian needs at
critical levels among these groups, in these locations
due to armed conflict and insecurity, displacement,
heightened vulnerability to natural hazards and
other crises.
Where available, the HRP uses disaggregated data
for these groups and applies protection, gender, age,
disability, mental health and accountability lenses to its
response planning for each group.
Geographical coverage and prioritization
The 2023 HRP continues to maintain a nationwide
geographic scope given the unprecedented increase
in humanitarian needs since 1 February 2021. This
follows the JIAF analysis in the 2023 HNO, which
showed humanitarian needs in every state and region
of the country. Ongoing hostilities across Myanmar
continue to endanger the safety and well-being of
civilians, particularly in the Northwest and Southeast.
More than 1.5 million people remain displaced across
the country, of whom nearly 1.2 million fled as a result
of conflict and insecurity since the 2021 military
takeover.53 IDPs face severe vulnerabilities and have
been prioritized for assistance where access permits.
The Northwest continues to carry the heaviest new
29
displacement burden since the takeover with close
to 800,000 displaced people as of 26 December
2022 – 53 per cent all IDPs in Myanmar. The Southeast
hosts the second largest number of new IDPs, with
350,000 IDPs across the area. Rakhine remains an
area of acute needs with protracted and new IDPs and
stateless people in high need amid continued tension
between the AA and the MAF despite an informal
ceasefire. More than 300,000 people were already
displaced nationwide when the military takeover
happened, with many people living in camps and sites
for more than a decade with high dependence on
humanitarian assistance.
Proportionally, among the total 4.5 million people
targeted to receive humanitarian assistance in 2023,
the majority are in the Northwest (30 per cent of
total target), followed by the Southeast (24 per cent)
and Rakhine (21 per cent). This reflects the 2023
prioritization of aid towards the most vulnerable
groups with severe humanitarian needs, and strongly
correlates with conflict hot spots during the second
half of 2022.
Localized response
Towards more equitable partnerships with local actors
Due of heavy access restrictions and bureaucratic
obstacles including a lack of visas for international
personnel, the humanitarian response in much of
Myanmar has become increasingly localized, with
CBOs, CSOs and NNGOs being able to access
communities through their local networks and
relationships on the ground. The humanitarian
community will therefore continue principled
partnerships with CBOs and CSOs, while at the same
time using a mix of response approaches depending
on what is best suited for the respective area that
needs to be accessed. All organizations cannot
reach all locations, but through coordinated efforts, a
complementary mosaic of assistance will be delivered
again in 2023 by different actors in different places,
reaching a growing number of people. Local partners,
including Women CSOs54 operating at the heart of
their communities, are an invaluable and essential
keystone of the Myanmar response and efforts have
been underway since 2021 to localize coordination and
HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023

response mechanisms so that they are more suited
to the organizations delivering the bulk of assistance.
Some practical measures have already been
introduced in 2021 and 2022 to promote inclusion,
participation, and funding of national partners but
more work is needed during 2023 and this has been
set as an HCT priority.
Progress on localization of coordination:
• National humanitarian organizations and
women-led organizations are now represented
in the HCT through six national NGOs with the
membership expanded in 2022.
• A national representative has been added as an
observer at the ICCG.
• The Myanmar Humanitarian Fund (MHF) has
supported the creation of an inter-cluster language
support project hosted by IOM with support from
OCHA that is allowing access to simultaneous
translation of cluster meetings and translation of
key cluster documents.
• Simultaneous translation was used for all HRP
consultations across the country and sign-
language was used for consultations with disability
organizations.
• The MHF has set new direct local funding targets
for 2023 and beyond, with flexible eligibility
arrangements in place.
• More local sub-national cluster coordinators
were recruited and trained in 2022 to support
coordination in Myanmar language and this
has been very constructive, however more
work is needed to give more local ownership of
coordination forums and improve participation
by local CSOs.
A dedicated HPC consultation session was held in
August 2022 with 30 participants from local CSOs
and NGOs across Myanmar using simultaneous
interpretation and interactive technology to find out
more about ongoing gaps heading into 2023. The
session was an opportunity to discuss constraints
and opportunities for further local scale-up. CSOs
and NNGOs voiced their needs, including specific
messages around funding and donor flexibility. In the
sessions, CSOs and NNGOs suggested that:
• INGOs and the UN should strengthen their
coordination with local mechanisms and informal
networks as “intermediaries.” They noted that
local CSOs/NGOs exist in every region who
could respond rapidly through their networks
and recommended that focal points of regional
and local networks and CSOs be established
to enhance engagement with international
organizations.
• More direct funding should be provided to local
partners and more space should be offered to
local actors in funding allocations, along with the
necessary technical support in proposals.
• More flexible, multi-year funding should be
delivered through local intermediary actors and
consortium leads, who have a broader network and
working relationships with CSOs.
• More advocacy is required to secure avenues
for more core funding. When local partners
implement activities on behalf of INGOs and

Language and inclusion

Local organizations are at the heart of the humanitarian response in Myanmar, providing immediate assistance
to people in need using their local knowledge, skills, networks, and comparatively more robust access. Language
has been identified as a critical participation barrier for local organizations, and thus simultaneous interpretation
in meetings and translation of critical documents from English to local languages (Myanmar and other locally
relevant languages) and vice versa are crucial to ensuring the inclusion of local actors in coordination structures,
enabling them to receive clear, timely and actionable information for effective humanitarian response to affected
people. The MHF has provided resources to a language services project aimed at overcoming language barriers
and creating effective communication channels by improving the ability of local actors to participate in national
level coordination meetings held by various clusters, AoRs, and thematic working groups. The inter-agency
translation and interpretation team of three interpreters and translators is hosted by IOM, with OCHA providing
functional support and overseeing the work of the team throughout 2023.

30
HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023
the UN, they often have little or no overheads or
opportunity for internal cost recovery. CSOs and
NNGOs expressed that donor support is needed
to strengthen institutional management and
operational systems, not just immediate project
costs. CSOs and NNGOs require additional support
to cover core staffing expenses so that their
organizations can more fully meet normative and
coordination expectations.
• To facilitate greater involvement at the cluster
level, increased funding should be provided for
human resources to enable local organizations
to have sufficient capacity to participate in
coordination meetings and take on leadership
roles more effectively. Local organizations
requested for donors to commit to capacity-
building in the areas of institutional management
and operational systems.
• INGOs and the UN should be more flexible
with their funding and reporting systems
and procedures.
• Additional support should be provided to local
organizations to cover security-related expenses.
As frontline responders, they expressed that they
need more organizational support to be better
equipped and trained for their work in complicated
and sensitive settings.
31
• Enhanced technical capacity building should
be made available that supports and fosters
understanding and application of humanitarian
principles. Small frontline community
organizations, women’s organizations and CSOs,
in particular, that have shifted their activities
from development to humanitarian response in
the current crisis, are the most in need of training
on humanitarian principles, gender equality and
empowerment of women in girls in humanitarian
action, and on accessing humanitarian funding.
The need for more tailored capacity building
support, inclusive coordination structures, equitable
partnerships and leadership opportunities were all
further highlighted in the 2022 P-2-P report on the
Myanmar response and will be tackled in 2023 through
a new localization workstream and HCT Localization
Strategy. While the final elements of this strategy are
still being agreed, topics are likely to align with the
IASC Localization Guidance and will include a focus
on delivery of coordinated capacity building, flexible
funding opportunities, reporting expectations and data
protection, leadership structures and pathways, duty
of care considerations, risk-sharing vs risk-transfer
to local partners, and security needs for national and
local organizations.
HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023

Empowering women-led CSOs in a localized response

To ensure that Women CSOs understand principles around gender equality and empowerment of women and
girls in humanitarian action and are aware of the coordination structures in place, UN Women collaborated with
UNFPA under a CERF grant to develop and implement a tailored Capacity Development Plan for this specific
group of organizations. The plan has already been rolled out to hundreds of aid workers through training
sessions in 2021 and 2022 with very positive feedback from participants.

“Because of the trainings I am now providing more comments on how women and girls should be reflected in
proposals that our organization is doing….”

“As a data manager, I d[id] not understand why SADD is needed and its relevance, the training made me appreciate
and understand more my role and the importance of data/information I am collecting. I am now able to provide
comments and suggestions to my program colleagues…”

“I will now be more involved in my organization’s activities on women and girl’s empowerment….”

The training plan is based on a CERF-funded survey which identified capacity building needs in the areas of
protection, humanitarian coordination architecture, humanitarian funding and access. The aim is for Women
CSOs to have a bigger role in the response which requires an enhanced understanding of the mechanics of
supporting women and girls in humanitarian context, and therefore includes significant collaboration with the
GBV and Child Protection Areas of Responsibility. It endeavors to ensure equal and meaningful participation
of Women CSOs in humanitarian decision-making at national and sub-national level, supporting their transition
from development work to humanitarian response. The training consolidates and aligns with the GiHA
Community of Practice (GiHA CoP) Workplan priorities on gender capacity development and support for local
organizations on other cross-cutting thematic areas like AAP and PSEA. It is also aligned with plans that will be
further elaborated in the HCT Localization Strategy.

To date, the training has involved:

• Conducting 15 capacity building trainings among members of the GiHA CoP with their Women CSO partners
across the country benefitting 500 people (322 women) across 334 organizations (UN, I/LNGOs, CSOs)
including 162 women’s organizations across the country.
• In June 2022, OCHA conducted a 1-day session on humanitarian coordination, including the Humanitarian
Programme Cycle (HPC), the overall coordination architecture in Myanmar, access and information
management with about 50 participants from various Women CSOs attending. Given the movement
constraints, both trainings were facilitated online with simultaneous interpretation services in English and
Myanmar language provided throughout. Sessions were interactive using mentimeter; while face-to-face
training was facilitated in Sittwe, Rakhine.

Lessons Learned:

• Capacity building is a primary need and often the most overlooked when it comes to humanitarian response,
especially on funding processes. These joint training activities provide technical support while building local
Women CSOs’ capacities and empowering meaningful participation in humanitarian action. Small frontline
community organizations, Women CSOs, in particular, have benefited most from this training.
• The approach combines a range of training topics into a single package, using a gender lens to cover
everything from the HPC to data management, and the use of the Gender and Age Marker to GBV in
emergency settings, AAP, PSEA and Women Peace and Security. This consolidation avoids multiple training
calls and has ensured accessibility through the use of modalities that are adapted to the current situation of
limited mobility, internet access and power outages.

32
 HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023
1.2
Nexus between Humanitarian and Development Planning
In the absence of a signed Sustainable Development
Cooperation Framework, the UN SERRP remains
the foundational document that articulates the
broad framework for the UN Country Team’s (UNCT)
engagement in Myanmar through until the end of
2023. It provides a strategic vision of key thematic
areas of action, which define the UN’s core activities
over an 18-month timeframe and focuses on longer-
term resilience building and nexus activities that
reduce peoples’ dependence on immediate life-saving
assistance. A key focus of the SERRP is to minimize
the number people slipping into acute humanitarian
need due to the consequences of the crisis over time.
While ongoing nexus and development activities will
focus on the root causes of the crisis, humanitarians
- as outlined in the complementary 2023 HRP - will
continue to provide essential support to crisis-affected
and vulnerable populations whose situation requires
immediate protection, safety and health responses.
The upcoming UN Transitional Cooperation Framework
(to be developed in 2023 and operational from
2024), will also ensure strong complementarity with
the 2024 HRP.
In line with the nexus approach, several key areas of
convergence have been identified between the three
strategic objectives foreseen in the 2023 HRP and the
SERRP’s four strategic pillars.
•
Planning across the nexus
2022
DEVELOPMENT/ SERRP
NEXUS
HUMANITARIAN HRP
33
• The first Strategic Objective of the HRP prioritizes
immediate protection risks and needs, which
are closely linked to the SERRP’s first and
third strategic pillars which outline the need to
strengthen household and community resilience
through the provision of social protection and
basic social services (Pillar 1), and the need to
support civil society actors to promote access
to justice, human rights, gender equality and
democratic and civil space (Pillar 3).
• The second HRP Strategic Objective focuses on
food insecurity, malnutrition, and health threats. It
echoes the SERRP’s first, second and fourth pillars,
which outline the need to strengthen household
and community resilience through the provision
of social protection and basic social services
(Pillar 1); strengthen resilience of households,
communities, and small and medium enterprises
(SMEs) to economic impacts (Pillar 2); and
strengthen access to essential health and nutrition
services (Pillar 4).
• Lastly, the HRP 2023’s third Strategic Objective,
outlining the need to support safe, tailored timely
and dignified access to essential services, is
complementary to the SERRP’s first and second
pillars, which outline the need to strengthen
household and community resilience through the
provision of social protection and basic social
services (Pillar 1); and to strengthen resilience of
2023 2024
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HRP HRP
HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023
households, communities, and SMEs to economic
impacts of the crisis (Pillar 2).
Interventions outlined under the HRP 2023 and the
extended SERRP converge in several areas including
protection, food security, nutrition, health, education,
shelter, and WASH needs and remain complementary
in others. While the underlying drivers of needs in both
plans may be the same, the two Plans will focus on
different groups of population with different urgency
and depth of needs, with convergence in responses
where possible.
For the HRP, the target includes populations located
in crisis-affected areas assessed to be in urgent need
of humanitarian assistance (i.e. displaced, returned,
IDPs, non-displaced, stateless people). However, for
the SERRP the focus is on broader vulnerable and
impoverished groups and communities, with less
geographic focus, but an emphasis on people who
require support to access to basic services and
strengthened socio-economic resilience. An essential
focus for the SERRP is to target vulnerable or at-risk
MON
A woman - supported through a micro-gardening programme - harvests
vegetables from her garden for private consumption and sale in the market in
Mon, 2022. Credit: FAO
34
populations to reduce the risk they will slide into
situations where they must turn to humanitarian
assistance for survival because the severity of their
needs has worsened.
The heavy prioritization of the HRP target in 2023 also
means there will be many who have been identified as
having needs, but at a lower severity, who are unlikely
to be reached by humanitarian action and could benefit
from prioritized nexus action under the SERRP.
A key challenge in 2023 will be to reinforce
the coordination mechanisms and structures
between actors working in both sectors, with a key
focus on articulating the peace component. The
new fit-for-purpose humanitarian coordination
architecture recommended by the P-2-P review
team will support more systematic engagement and
clearer opportunities for collaboration. A detailed
comparison and account of the connection between
the humanitarian, and development communities is
attached as an annex at the back of the HRP.
HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023
1.3
Strategic Objectives, Specific Objectives and Response
Approach
The HRP is structured around three SOs and seven
related Specific Objectives (SPOs), which, if realized,
will guide humanitarian partners to reach a total
of 4.5 million people with assistance. Together
these objectives will save lives and address serious
protection risks, improve the overall health and
well-being of crisis-affected communities, and
lift the dignity and safety of living conditions for
affected people. The response will be sensitive to the
unique needs of women, children and persons with
disabilities and other populations of concern and
will ensure effective accountability measures are in
place across all locations where assistance is being
provided. The activities listed under one strategic
and/or specific objective can also support (directly or
indirectly) cluster activities in another strategic and/or
specific objective.
Given the extensive involvement of local humanitarian
and some formerly development-orientated
organizations in responding to new needs throughout
2022, partners involved in implementing the HRP will
pursue the strategic objectives, while simultaneously
maintaining linkages with activities across the
humanitarian, development, and peace nexus through
the SERRP. Opportunities for this work are nascent but
present in the Northeast and Southeast , as well as
Rakhine, where there is a stronger long-term presence
of development and peace actors but opportunities
for such durable solutions in 2023 will be heavily
dependent on access and conflict trends. This Nexus
response is aimed at mitigating against the effects
of surging poverty since the events of 1 February
2021 and prevent people from falling into a more
acute situations that require increased humanitarian
assistance for survival.
35
The Humanitarian response under the HRP will
prioritize IDPs, returnees, non-displaced stateless
people and other crisis-affected people who have
the most acute humanitarian needs primarily in
conflict-affected areas. The humanitarian response
approach takes into consideration the significant
access and civil-military coordination challenges
faced by partners across the country. Concerted
efforts will be made to de-politicize the humanitarian
response and promote acceptance of humanitarian
principles. This will be done through increased
advocacy at higher levels with all parties to the conflict
to promote compliance with IHL. To deepen access
in all areas of the country and enable humanitarian
organizations to deliver assistance, analysis, access
and civil-military coordination and advocacy will
be guided by the revitalized Humanitarian Access
Working Group (HAWG), chaired by OCHA. Based on
recommendations from the P-2-P report, the HCT is
also considering how it can systematize higher level
advocacy with parties to the conflict on access issues.
Modalities for the provision of humanitarian
assistance will remain flexible throughout 2023 given
challenges associated with access, the procurement of
supplies, the ongoing banking crisis, heavy reliance on
local and remotely coordinated responders, as well as
with the high levels of inflation and depreciation of the
Myanmar Kyat.
In agreement with the development community in
Myanmar, the HRP in 2023 will focus predominantly on
people in need in conflict-affected areas, transitioning
the significant caseload of vulnerable people in
peri-urban and urban areas to the SERRP for nexus
support through programming focused on resilience,
prevention, and improved living conditions.
HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023

Strategic Objective 1
Protection risks and needs are identified, monitored, mitigated, and
met for 2.1 million people, while the centrality of protection is upheld
across the humanitarian response including through promotion
of respect for human rights, international humanitarian law and
humanitarian principles

PEOPLE TARGETED WOMEN AND GIRLS CHILDREN (0 - 18) WITH DISABILITIES

2.1M 52% 34% 13%

Objective rationale and intended outcome
New and intensified conflict across Myanmar since
February 2021 has been characterized by alleged
and verified violations of IHL and IHRL, including
targeted attacks on civilian populations and civilian
infrastructure, the use of heavy weapons and aerial
bombardment of civilian areas, forced recruitment
of children, physical and sexual assault, and the
use of civilians as porters among other credible
allegations. Responses to protests and restrictions
on free speech have been severe, including reports
of arbitrary arrest, targeted killings and executions of
those perceived as being politically associated with
either side. Communities affected by armed conflict,
particularly those who are displaced, face increased
protection risks including child protection concerns
related to neglect, exploitation, and abuse, and GBV.
Humanitarian partners have also been directly targeted
by armed actors, particularly education and health
facilities and workers, generating safety and protection
concerns for staff and undermining the ability to
meet needs. Consequently, SO 1 puts protection
front and center of the humanitarian response,
with mainstreamed activities aimed at preventing,
monitoring, responding to serious protection concerns.
Activities under SO1 are designed to specifically
target and prioritize IDPs living in camps or camp-
like situations; non-displaced stateless people;
returned,resettled and locally integrated IDPs; and
other crisis-affected people with severe humanitarian
needs living in high conflict intensity areas and host
communities. Special consideration will be given
to people who are exposed to specific protection
risks due to armed conflict, families impacted by the
destruction of houses and people at heightened risk
of abduction, violence, forced recruitment, human
trafficking and forced labour.

37
HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023
Strategic Objectives 2
Suffering, morbidity, and mortality is prevented or reduced among 3.1
million displaced, returned, stateless and other crisis-affected people
experiencing or at risk of food insecurity, malnutrition, and health
threats
PEOPLE TARGETED WOMEN AND GIRLS
3.1M 52%
Objective rationale and intended outcome
The deteriorating security situation across the
country is exposing people to life-threatening
harm, injury and health threats; is driving growing
displacement; and is generating severe consequences
for food security and nutrition. Ongoing difficulties
in affordability of fertilizer, below-average rainfall,
movement restrictions, displacement of farmers and
farm workers, EO contamination of farmland, and
insufficient and expensive fuel have led to challenges
in crop production throughout 2022 and these are
subsequently affecting the food production outlook
into 2023. The price of food is also making it harder for
families to buy what they need and many households
are now going hungry. The multi-faceted effects
of disrupted production, increased transport costs,
global inflation, currency depreciation of the Myanmar
Kyat, rising fuel prices, declining stocks, and supply
chain constraints and inflation, are contributing to
surging costs for food and non-food items, putting
stress on household finances and reducing people’s
ability to meet their basic needs. Commodity prices in
conflict-affected regions have increased more sharply
than elsewhere, leading to an increased risk of food
insecurity, with nearly one in three people (28 per cent
of the population) moderately or severely food insecure
heading into 2023.55 The consequences of protracted
food insecurity include increased malnutrition rates
at a time when malnutrition screening, prevention
and treatment activities are heavily interrupted by
conflict and access restrictions. This neccessitates
a continued large-scale food security and nutrition
response with a focus on conflict areas.
Public health services have been heavily disrupted due
to a combination of factors including attacks on and
38
CHILDREN (0 - 18) WITH DISABILITIES
34% 13%
occupation of health facilities in conflict, as well as the
CDM and large-sale departure of health workers and
people’s reluctance to seek care from public health
services run by the de facto authorities, exacerbating
long-term inequities. The health system remains
politicized, affecting the return of the workforce and
access to health care, particularly in conflict-affected
areas. Administrative restrictions are obstructing
and delaying the importation of medicine and
medical supplies into Myanmar and their subsequent
transport to conflict areas with devastating effects
on primary health care in these locations. While the
public health services are heavily disrupted, the cost
of private health care is increasingly beyond the
reach of impoverished crisis-affected households
and overall access to health care remains severely
constrained and fragmented, heavily relying on ethnic
and community-based organizations who are not able
to fully meet growing national needs. This necessitates
a significantly expanded health response in 2023 with
sound contingency planning to prevent pipeline breaks
for key commodities.
The HRP activities under SO2 will focus on providing
IDP and crisis-affected people adequate levels of
food, and agricultural inputs to vulnerable farmers
as part of livelihood support. A dramatic scale-up in
humanitarian health activities aims to bridge service
gaps, improving availability and accessibility of
primary health care services to reduce and prevent
suffering, morbidity, and mortality among internally
displaced, returned, stateless and other crisis-affected
people. This will be achieved by the timely provision of
integrated humanitarian assistance that is sensitive to
the needs of affected communities.
HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023
Strategic Objective 3
At least 2 million displaced, returned, stateless and other crisis-
affected people have safe, tailored, timely and dignified access to the
essential services and support to ensure their survival and prevent
deterioration of their humanitarian needs
PEOPLE TARGETED WOMEN AND GIRLS
2M 52%
Objective rationale and intended outcome
The people of Myanmar have been enduring heavy
interruptions to essential services for close to two
years with dire consequences for their survival and
dignity. More than 13 million school age children
in Myanmar have had their education disrupted in
multiple ways by the parallel political, COVID and
economic crises. The use of schools and universities
by armed actors, along with the subsequent targeting
of these schools, places education in the crosshairs.
As such, there has been a surge in demand for
alternative education services. Communities are
struggling to meet this demand amid a general
scarcity of almost all essential resources, including
money, infrastructure, and trained personnel, as well as
insufficient teaching and learning materials.
In the areas with large-scale displacement, the need
for shelter and relief items is reportedly high, while
access is very limited to provide comprehensive site
services. More than half of IDPs note they are living in
unsafe shelter types. The 2022 MSNA also confirmed
that access to safe water is still very low for the
39
CHILDREN (0 - 18) WITH DISABILITIES
35% 14%
most vulnerable population groups, especially among
non-displaced stateless people, where almost half of
households reported using unsafe water sources for
drinking both during the monsoon and dry season.
To meet the needs of affected people, activities under
SO3 will focus on providing safe, tailored, and dignified
access to essential services to at least 2 million people
in need of humanitarian assistance. HRP activities
place emphasis on providing crisis-affected children
and youth access to safe, inclusive, relevant quality
education and empowering communities to support
and sustain children’s safe learning opportunities.
Emergency shelter items, repair kits, NFIs and camp
coordination and management support aims at
assisting IDPs and other crisis-affected people to
have safe, dignified living conditions. To maintain
health, dignity and protection of affected people,
WASH activities will implement, operate and sustain
quality water, sanitation and hygiene support and
mainstreaming of WASH services in close consultation
with affected communities.
HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023

STRATEGIC SPECIFIC OBJECTIVE POPULATION GROUPS PEOPLE

OBJECTIVE TARGETED FOR
ASSISTANCE

SO1 Protection 960,000 people including boys, girls, women, IDPs 2.1M
men, persons facing life-threatening risks of Returned IDPs
abuse, neglect, violence, exploitation, injury, and Non-displaced
severe distress have received targeted support stateless
through individual or community-based protection Other crisis-affected
services to prevent, mitigate and respond to these with humanitarian
risks. needs

Increased number of communities reached

by protection monitoring with particular focus
in townships with exposure to armed conflict,
violence and risks of forced return and work to
increase respect for human rights, humanitarian
law and principles including through capacity
support and dialogue with duty bearers and
responders to mitigate the effects of armed
conflict on civilians.

Collective actions on the centrality of

protection are promoted by ensuring protection
mainstreaming and integration including
GBV mainstreaming, complaint and feedback
mechanisms, PSEA, child safeguarding, explosive
ordnance risk education, and psychosocial
support across the humanitarian response.

SO2 Food Security Food insecure internally displaced (1,470,000) IDPs 2.1M
and other crisis-affected people (366,000) Returned IDPs
have access to adequate levels of food, while Non-displaced
vulnerable farmers (533,482) have access to stateless
agricultural inputs. Other crisis-affected
with humanitarian
needs

Health Improved availability and accessibility of primary IDPs 2.3M

health care services for 2.3 million internally Returned IDPs
displaced, returned, non-displaced stateless, and Non-displaced
other crisis-affected people. stateless
Other crisis-affected
with humanitarian
needs

Nutrition Suffering, morbidity and mortality is reduced for IDPs 590K

590,263 internally displaced, returned, stateless Returned IDPs
and other crisis-affected people experiencing or Non-displaced
at risk of malnutrition and related food security stateless
and health threats. Other crisis-affected
with humanitarian
needs

40
HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023

STRATEGIC SPECIFIC OBJECTIVE POPULATION GROUPS PEOPLE TARGETED

OBJECTIVE FOR ASSISTANCE

SO3 Education More than 1.3 million crisis-affected children and IDPs 1.3M
youth have access to safe, inclusive, relevant Returned IDPs
quality education, while communities are Non-displaced
empowered to support and sustain children’s safe stateless
learning opportunities Other crisis-affected
with humanitarian
needs

Shelter/NFI/CCCM A total of 952,157 displaced, returned, resettled, IDPs 952K

non-displaced stateless and other crisis- Returned IDPs
affected people with humanitarian needs receive Non-displaced
emergency shelter items and repair kits, and stateless
emergency NFIs, ensuring the safety, dignity and Other crisis-affected
privacy of their living conditions. with humanitarian
needs

WASH Implement, operate and sustain quality, high IDPs 1.6M

standard water and sanitation services and good Returned IDPs
hygiene practices to maintain the health, dignity Non-displaced
and protection of affected people, on the basis of stateless
risk-sensitive programming and consultation with Other crisis-affected
communities for integrated/mainstreamed WASH with humanitarian
services. needs

RAKHINE
An irrigation channel supported through a cash-for-work programme is
delivering water to enable crop growth in Rakhine, 2022. Credit: FAO

41
HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023
1.4
Costing Methodology
Myanmar’s 2023 HRP uses a unit or activity-based
costing methodology. Each cluster has produced a
cost-per-person estimate for each of its activities,
which combines the cost associated with procurement
of in-kind supplies, cash provision (where appropriate),
and expenses associated with the physical delivery
of assistance (logistics, staff, security and other
overheads). The average unit cost for each activity is
presented against the number of people targeted for
assistance. Clusters note inevitable cost variations
across target activities both within and between
prioritized population groups and geographic
locations. These individual activity costings are then
multiplied by the number of people to be reached
to produce an overall cluster cost-per-person that is
comparable year-on-year and responsive to changes
in the cost of operating in Myanmar in the current
inflationary environment.
The 2023 HRP sets a target of 4.5 million people to be
reached with assistance which is likely to be slightly
higher than actual reach in 2022 once final figures
are available form clusters during quarter 1 of 2023.
This is lower than the target set in 2022, but is more
focused on harder-to-reach conflict areas than last
year and so is still ambitious given the increasingly
challenging operating environment, access, conflict
intensity, security threats, partner capacity and the
global funding outlook.
At the same time, the cost of operating in Myanmar
has increased significantly. The operating environment
has become more demanding, requiring partners to
both navigate the volatile security situation along
with the scale-up of operations in parts of the country
where they have little infrastructure. This includes the
adoption of alternate delivery approaches to safeguard
beneficiaries and staff, so that partners can perform
effectively to minimize risks to affected communities.
42
All of these factors have an impact on cost and take
additional time and resources to accomplish.
For 2023, sharp inflation has affected the procurement
costs of various clusters depending on the type of
items they use and availability in the local market. The
cost of imported goods has risen exponentially with
the devaluation of the Myanmar Kyat. This adds to the
already complex logistics challenges. Clusters have
therefore applied inflation rates of up to 40 per cent to
their costings for 2023 depending on the type of items
and activities. More details on this are available on
each cluster's pages in the HRP.
In planning for 2023, clusters agreed to insert
transparent costs dedicated to protection
mainstreaming, ranging from 5 to 7 per cent of the
total cost of their cluster’s activities. The earmarking of
these costs will go a long way towards securing a more
robust focus on protection across all clusters and
ensuring that appropriate resourcing for such activities
is provided. The clusters also reviewed the need to
integrate duty-of-care and core operating costs for
local partners in their cluster costings but ultimately
concluded that additional consultation was needed
throughout 2023 to identify a more informed approach
based on global best practices. This will now form part
of the work down by the Localization Workstream and
will be an element of the HCT’s Localization Strategy.
Continuing with the wider focus on other crisis-affected
people with humanitarian needs, the significant
deterioration of people’s needs and living conditions,
and the national geographic scope applied to the HNO,
the 2023 HRP requires $764 million (a decrease from
the $826 million in the 2022 HRP) to target a total of
4.5 million people with life-saving assistance.
HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023

In reflection of the additional response complexities,
inflation, and protection mainstreaming, the average
cost-per-person for the 2023 HRP stands at $170,
which is significantly higher than the average cost-per-
person of the 2022 HRP at $133. This also reflects the
reduction in economies of scale achieved in the peri-
urban response after handing over the implementation
of these larger-scale operations in easier-to-reach
areas of Yangon and Mandalay to development
partners under the SERRP in 2023.
Below is a breakdown of trends in costs-per-person
overall and by cluster for the past five years. A
breakdown of individual costings per activity is
provided as an annex on page 127 of this HRP.

Average cost-per-person assisted (US$)

CLUSTER 2019 2020 2021 * 2022 2023

Education 130 150 161 63 65

Food Security 97 109 132 70 91

Health 36 70 50 56 46

Nutrition 81 120 143 60 81

Protection 40 47 43 58 59

Shelter/NFI/CCCM 96 112 113 80 92

WASH 62 71 54 64 69

OVERALL 228 325 129 133 170

* For 2021, these figures represent the combined totals of the HRP and IERP.

43
HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023
1.5
Operational Capacity and Access
Planning scenario
With a dynamic and fluid conflict situation, changing
climate patterns, and worsening socioeconomic
conditions, it remains challenging to make accurate
projections of humanitarian needs and the precise
operating environment for humanitarian organizations
in 2023. But there remains strong consensus that the
year will see continued conflict, high displacement
and suffering on a national scale and it is around
this common outlook that the 2023 response has
been planned. Common planning projections have
been used for displacement (similar rate to 2022),
returns (512,000) and disaster impacts (50,000 people
affected) to standardize planning across sectors.
This bleak scenario was developed through extensive
consultations with more than 200 humanitarian
partners at the national and sub-national level in
September and October of 2022 to understand the
situation aid agencies are seeing on the ground and
their priorities for action in 2023. It also reflects and
is responsive to concerns, needs and preferences
expressed by affected people through various surveys,
assessments, analyses and monitoring reports as
outlined in HNO 2023.
Based on the agreed scenario, the 2023 response
shifts gear away from the combined COVID and
conflict responses of 2021 and 2022 which included
considerable support for people in urban and rural
locations. Instead, the 2023 Plan articulates a
response geared towards addressing the deteriorating
humanitarian situation in rural and conflict-affected
areas and the ever-growing, critical needs of people
affected by past conflicts and statelessness. The
HCT grounded the 2023 HRP on a planning scenario
that continues to see rising needs across the country
due to multiple, intersecting threats but prioritizes
resources on conflict areas and other locations where
44
there are more severe needs and limited other options
for survival.
Escalating needs and the resulting imperative of a
deeper humanitarian response in 2023 are being
driven by worsening conflict, the lingering financial
impact from COVID-19, rising food insecurity, a
severely overstretched health system, disengagement
from public education, complications related to the
banking sector and a troubled economy, ongoing
threats to the country’s social fabric, and persistent
marginalization of ethnic groups including stateless
Rohingya people. The planning scenario sees an
absence of improvement in political dialogue among
parties to the conflict, an intensification of armed
conflict in various parts of the country and a continued
elevated rate of displacement, against the backdrop of
planned elections.
This projection is already starting to manifest in
January of 2023 with a continued deterioration in the
humanitarian situation in Kachin, the Northwest and
Southeast. Increased armed conflict across many
different parts of the country is expected to continue
triggering new displacement and humanitarian needs,
with many people now being displaced multiple times,
even after they have sometimes returned home.
The working assumption is that much of the increase
in needs would be in areas that are currently harder-
to-reach for many international and national actors
in the short-term, although there will be concerted
advocacy with parties to the conflict to reverse this in
order to alleviate suffering. Clusters also foresee an
ongoing need to identify and partner with more local
organizations who have superior access and stronger
connections with local communities, albeit with many
associated risks. There is also a need to expand
HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023
alternative delivery modalities including cash transfers
and work with the private sector.
Amid a worsening conflict situation, it is anticipated
that there will be continued protection risks including
forced recruitment, human trafficking, child labour
and forced marriage as well as SEA risks against
women, children, and vulnerable people. Landmine
contamination is also expected to present additional
challenges for affected people and humanitarian
personnel. These challenges are expected to be
compounded by the destruction of property in
places of origin making opportunities for return
and resettlement modest and geographically
limited in 2023.
The HNO 2023 outlines potential risks to this common
planning scenario on page 92 and the likelihood of
these eventuating and undermining current response
settings.56 For example, the chance of another
devastating outbreak of COVID-19 in 2023 is not
considered very likely, however the impact would be
severe if it did eventuate, requiring a course correction
for the response.
The scenario also assumes that the economic
situation will remain fragile in 2023, with persistent
inflation and depreciation of the Myanmar Kyat,
worsened by disruptions in international markets
triggered by conflicts in other parts of the globe.
Working in active conflict settings requires increased
investment in the human and logistical resources to
deliver a response in this environment, with safety
and security expenses inevitably becoming higher the
worse the conflict gets and the more safety measures
are required. Heading into the planned election period,
humanitarian space is likely to be further restricted
through continued bureaucratic constraints, increased
scrutiny of CSOs, INGOs and NNGOs and enhanced
security measures.
The common planning settings used by clusters
are premised on an assumption that development
partners will continue re-engaging and will modestly
expand their activities at the community level in
2023, presenting opportunities to transfer most
urban caseloads out of the humanitarian plan, and
45
towards more nexus and resilience-style programming
under the SERRP.
Operational Capacity
In the face of rising needs, humanitarians have stayed
and delivered, maintaining a presence, exploring
flexible delivery approaches, and expanding the
overall capacity to reach more people than ever
before in 2022 through a deepening network of local
organizations assisting their own communities. This
is visible through the number of people reached in
2022 – 3.9 million by September which equates
to around 4 times the number reached before the
takeover. This expansion is also proven through an
increased number of organizations participating in
the cluster system and represented in the HRP. A total
of 219 partners were integrated into the response at
the end of 2022 compared to 130 partners in the first
quarter of the year. This includes: 11 UN agencies, 73
INGOs, 77 national NGOs, 50 CSOs, and CBOs, and 8
other organizations (including the components of the
International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement).
It is important to note that there are a substantial
number of local organizations who are working to
address needs but who are not engaged in the cluster
system. Continued efforts are underway to identify,
connect with and engage more organizations in the
national response, leveraging relationships, access,
and local knowledge to further enhance the operation
and better capture their substantial contribution to
meeting needs, especially in conflict areas.
The humanitarian response in new areas will continue
to be heavily reliant on local responders to meet the
needs of the displaced population, who are seeking
refuge in host communities or in harsh conditions
including sheltering in jungles and forests. However,
it must be noted that local responders’ capacities
are very stretched. Their limited human and financial
resources are being rapidly depleted with severe
challenges in mobilizing additional funds. Their
staff are also shouldering an increasing burden of
risk in delivering aid. The international humanitarian
community is committed to supporting partners to
protect staff delivering aid through enhanced advocacy
with parties to the conflict.
HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023
The HCT and ICCG retreats in early 2022 extensively
discussed their partnerships and localization
strategies with a focus on ensuring that local
responders are better supported to deliver aid in a
safe, agile, and context-adapted manner. This includes,
where appropriate, technical support and capacity
building for “non-traditional” or newly emerging
humanitarian actors, CBOs or CSOs. This remains a
work in progress and further efforts were encouraged
by the recent P-2-P mission and will feature in the
HCT Localization Strategy that is under development.
Extensive efforts have already been undertaken by the
MHF to provide flexible humanitarian funding for local
actors to overcome eligibility and banking challenges.
As a demonstration of the MHF’s commitment to
localization, new targets for direct local funding have
also been set by the MHF Advisory Board for the next
three years (25 per cent in 2023, 40 per cent in 2024
and 50 per cent in 2025).
The 2023 planning scenario clearly indicates that
humanitarian actors will likely continue to face severe
access constraints across Myanmar, including staff
safety and security, restrictions on movements,
registration issues, delayed TAs, administrative
obstacles such as problems with visas for international
staff, and the confiscation of or slow customs
clearance for humanitarian supplies. Decisions by
individual organizations on their risk thresholds will be
a major factor in capacity with several organizations
suspending operations in conflict areas due to safety
fears for staff. In the face of increased scrutiny and
repeated attacks, assurances of staff safety and
security from parties to the conflict will be critical to
seeing these organizations resume their life-saving
work. More support is needed to ensure the safety and
security of frontline humanitarian workers including
supporting secure communications and technology,
providing safe places, and ensuring safety of families
in the emergency situations.
Aid workers are deeply concerned about potential
impacts of new NGO registration requirements
on operating space and the delivery of life-saving
humanitarian assistance heading into 2023. As
they stand, the new rules introduced by the de
facto authorities may mean that organizations
47
cannot effectively operate and risk crisis-affected
communities missing out on the support they
need to survive.
The HCT is nevertheless confident in the ability of the
humanitarian community to meet HRP targets, but this
will be dependent on access, removal of bureaucratic
bottlenecks, identification of additional partners and
sufficient funding. Both high and local level access
advocacy will be further stepped up in 2023 with a
view to expanding access. Key clusters have already
demonstrated the capacity to scale up in response to
the needs of people all across the country through the
2022 reach figures.
To maintain flexibility and operational responsiveness,
humanitarians will need to continue investing heavily
in context monitoring, risk management and principled
engagement strategies, in particular with local actors.
Humanitarians need to build capacity and ensure the
safety of CBOs, CSOs, and civil society leaders who
are being directly targeted as part of the conflict.
Additionally, new and innovative approaches that
encourage and supprt partners to not only ‘stay and
deliver’ but also ‘enter and stay’ will be required as
humanitarians are asked to take on increasing levels of
risk in expanded locations. Humanitarians will continue
to require adequate and predictable resourcing from
donors to build relationships with communities,
recruit and train staff and build nimble and responsive
systems in areas where they have not previously had a
presence or networks.
Access
The access situation in Myanmar remains severely
constrained by movement restrictions imposed by
the de facto authorities, roadblocks by all parties,
intensified hostilities and interference in humanitarian
activities by armed actors. The complex and restrictive
bureaucratic system, including for TAs, registration
processes and visa issuance continues to either
directly hinder or delay the delivery of life-saving
humanitarian assistance. Such administrative and
bureaucratic impediments on access are expected to
increase further in 2023.
HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023
People targeted for assistance by access level
POPULATION GROUP
VERY DIFFICULT
TO ACCESS
IDPs 325K
Returned, resettled and
66K
locally integrated IDPs
Non-displaced stateless
- 126K
people
Other crisis-affected people
205K
with humanitarian needs
Total 596K
Throughout 2022, access challenges and restrictions
have increased across Myanmar. Based on the best
available information from partners and response
analysis,57 access constraints are most severe in areas
of active conflict – places where the needs are also
most acute and displacement figures high. Similarly,
access to rural areas, where most displaced people are
located, has continued to deteriorate in 2022 with an
increasing number of military checkpoints imposing
tight security measures and extensive restrictions on
movement across several states and regions.
An access severity analysis was carried out in
November 2022 categorizing the severity of constraints
on humanitarians reaching affected populations.
The access severity analysis shows that as many
as 2.3 million people who have been prioritized for
humanitarian assistance in 2023 live in areas that
are difficult to very difficult to access, mainly due to
active conflict and military operations or the de facto
authorities delaying or refusing TAs. This is particularly
concerning given the depth and urgency of needs in
these areas, which are currently home to 76 per cent
of the displaced population. Efforts in 2022 to gain
access to affected populations in these areas have
largely focused on enhanced locally-led responses.
Continued efforts in 2023 to push for more sustained
access to these hard-to-reach areas will be imperative,
both through continued investment in partnerships and
through scaled up access advocacy. Importantly, nearly
half of those being targeted for assistance in 2023 (2.2
50
ACCESS LEVEL
DIFFICULT ACCESSIBLE WITH ACCESSIBLE
TO ACCESS SOME CHALLENGES
859K 369K 1.3K
76K 41K 0.8K
320K
645K 1.3M 163K
1.7M 2M 165K
million out of 4.5 million people) are either accessible
or accessible with some challenges.
At the same time, staff safety and security remain of
grave concern. Insecurity and active fighting, as well
as contamination with landmines/UXOs, all present
an immediate threat. Many organizations have been
forced to temporarily suspend operations amid heavy
fighting, including airstrikes, frequently resulting in
relocation and withdrawal of field-based workers and
volunteers on some areas. While the annual numbers
are still being finalized, the Access Monitoring and
Reporting Framework (AMRF) has recorded nearly
200 access incidents related to military operations
and armed activity in 2022, including ongoing fighting,
attacks with heavy weaponry, airstrikes, crossfire, and
search operations. Intimidation and threats against
humanitarian aid workers are also increasingly
impacting on humanitarian space. The AMRF
recorded more than 100 incidents of violence and
threats against humanitarian personnel, facilities and
assets between January and October 2022, including
incidents of arrest and detention of aid workers, as well
as confiscation of humanitarian aid. Globally, Myanmar
recorded the second highest number of aid workers
killed and the fourth highest number of aid workers
injured in 2022 according to the Aid Worker Security
Database, as of 27 December 2022.58 Humanitarian
aid workers, particularly Myanmar nationals, are at
increasing risk of being exposed to violence, arbitrary
arrest, harassment and intimidation. The humanitarian
HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023
community, through the Humanitarian Access Working
Group (HAWG) will continue to assist partners on
operational access challenges, including through
developing risk analysis and mitigation resources and
tools, exploring joint approaches to principled access
and deepening engagement with parties to the conflict.
Access situation across the country
Northeast: In the Northeast (Kachin and northern
Shan), access to some 105,600 displaced people
in Kachin, including people displaced in protracted
camps since 2012, remained limited in 2022. Access
worsened following the surge in violence in the last
quarter of 2022. Fighting between the MAF and the
KIA in Hpakant, Momauk and Waimaw in Kachin
and between the MAF and the TNLA and its allies
in Kunlong, Muse and Kutkai in northern Shan has
intensified since June 2022. In particular, fighting in
Hpakant township has escalated since an airstrike
on 23 October 2022, which led to wide-scale civilian
casualties and displacement, prompting further
restrictions on the movement of commercial and
humanitarian actors on key access routes. In Kachin,
most displaced people are in either hard-to-reach,
remote, rural areas or areas under EAO control and
administration where the de facto authorities restrict
the access of humanitarian partners. Humanitarian
partners estimate that half of the displaced population
is in areas that remain largely inaccessible. In northern
Shan, access to some 19,500 displaced people
remains more sustained. However, moves by the de
facto authorities to close IDP camps in northern Shan
have raised concerns among the IDP population with
regard to protection risks, and access to services
and assistance in their villages of origin. Since 2017,
international humanitarian organizations have largely
been unable to reach camps in EAO areas hosting
45,000 people, relying on local actors to provide the
required assistance.
Southeast: Access remains constrained across most
parts of the Southeast. Armed conflict between
the MAF and various armed groups has continued
throughout 2022 in almost all states and regions.
Overall, the access environment is exacerbated by the
presence of multiple parties to the conflict, including
the MAF, a number of EAOs, PDFs and other armed
51
groups. In southern Shan and Kayah, fighting between
the MAF and the joint forces of Karenni Nationalities
Defence Forces (KNDF) and PDFs has continued in
several townships. Fighting between the MAF and
the joint forces of Karen National Liberation Army
(KNLA) and PDFs also continued across several
townships in eastern Bago, Kayin and Mon involving
airstrikes and artillery fire. At the end of 2022, the
number of people remaining displaced by conflict
and insecurity since the military takeover in February
2021 had increased to some 328,900 people. IDPs are
sheltering in collective centres, informal displacement
sites and host communities in various townships.
Movement restrictions to townships in southern Shan
and Kayah remain in place with an increasing number
of checkpoints and tight security measures. In Kayah,
access by humanitarian actors has mostly only been
permitted to the urban areas of Loikaw. Further, in
2022, the de facto Shan State authorities prohibited
access to Pekon, Pindaya and Ywangan townships in
the State’s south, while access was only granted to
the urban areas of Hopong, Kalaw, Lawksawk, Loilen,
Nyaungshwe and Taunggyi townships. Apart from
Taunggyi urban areas, both national and international
staff need to obtain TA to access town areas in
other townships. In most of these areas, assistance
is reaching people in need through local actors,
sometimes supported by, and in partnership with
international humanitarian organizations. However,
in eastern Bago, a lack of humanitarian partners has
meant that some 30,000 IDPs have reduced access to
services and assistance.
Rakhine and southern Chin: In Rakhine and southern
Chin access was further restricted in 2022 following
the resumption of fighting between the AA and the
MAF in August, causing dozens of civilian casualties
and new displacement. Some 23,350 people were
newly displaced in Rakhine and southern Chin due to
the resumption of clashes, bringing the total number
of IDPs from past and present AA-MAF conflict to
about 97,000 when an informal and fragile ceasefire
was declared near the end of the year. Some IDPs
have since returned home, while others are waiting
for the situation to further stabilize. This is in addition
to the 130,000 mostly Rohingya IDPs who remain in
protracted camps since 2012 who have severe needs
HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023
and are heavily reliant on humanitarian assistance
for survival due to movement restrictions and
protection threats.
Amid growing needs, humanitarian activities were
severely hampered by additional access restrictions
imposed in Buthidaung, Maungdaw, Rathedaung,
Mrauk-U, Minbya, and Myebon townships in
mid-September in connection with the AA-MAF conflict.
Furthermore, in early November, just before the
ceasefire, these restrictions were temporarily extended
to Kyauktaw and Pauktaw townships. All communities
across Rakhine have been greatly affected by these
restrictions, while the delivery of critical humanitarian
food and nutrition and medical supplies was heavily
interrupted. Since the ceasefire, distributions have
slowly re-started, and key roads and waterways have
re-opened, however the opening of access has been
slow and patchy. Meanwhile, efforts by the United
League of Arakan (ULA)/AA since May 2022 to put
in place a parallel registration and travel notification
system for humanitarian actors in Rakhine resulted in
additional interference in the implementation of some
humanitarian activities in the state
52
Northwest: Access to affected people, including
IDPs in the Northwest, remains the most heavily
restricted of any area in the country. Fighting between
the MAF, the Chinland Defense Force (CDF) and
various PDFs, involving airstrikes, mortar fire and
ambushes, continued throughout 2022. The region is
home to 67 per cent of all new IDPs nationwide since
February 2021 and the limited presence and access
of humanitarian partners continues to raise major
protection and humanitarian concerns. Nearly 800,000
people remain displaced in informal displacement
sites across Chin, Magway and Sagaing with limited
access to assistance and services. Both sides have
a heightened security posture and heavy restrictions
have been imposed by the de facto authorities on
civilian movement and the transport of commodities.
This has raised concerns about shortages and surging
prices for food and medicine. The volatile security
situation, as well as the lack of de facto TAs for
humanitarian responders continue to hinder access to
the affected areas. As elsewhere, local organizations,
charity groups and religious networks have been key
actors on the frontline of supporting people in need.
However, local actors also faced increasing restrictions
in 2022 and have reported incidents including security
raids, arbitrary arrests and detentions, as well as
household checks and other forms of violence, threats
and harassment.
HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023
1.6
Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse and
Accountability to Affected Populations
Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse
Formed in 2018, the Myanmar PSEA Network is tasked
with implementing international commitments on
PSEA including the Secretary-General’s Bulletin (2003)
and the IASC (Inter-Agency Standing Committee) PSEA
Strategy. Activities are guided by the PSEA Action Plan
that is updated annually. The Network functions under
the auspices of the Resident Coordinator/Humanitarian
Coordinator (RC/HC) supported by co-leads and
reports directly to the RC/HC a.i. and the HCT. As
Myanmar is a context with both an HCT and UNCT
present, the Network informs both entities on progress
with the PSEA Strategy and provides implementation
updates on its Action Plan.
The Network is currently co-chaired by UN Women,
UNFPA, and ActionAid Myanmar with rotational
leadership to be implemented from 2023. Secretariat
support is provided by the Inter-agency PSEA
Coordinator and the national PSEA Coordinator. All
Network documents including its Terms of Reference
(ToR), Strategy and Action Plan are available publicly
through the dedicated PSEA page on the Myanmar
Information Management Unit (MIMU) website. The
page has a wealth of resources in both English and
Myanmar language, including translation of the IASC
Six Core PSEA Principles, Survivor Fund Standard
Operating Procedures (SOPs), an SOP on engagement
of investigators, and an inter-agency reporting
framework for SEA cases.
Building on progress made in 2022 and given the
depth of SEA risks amid the ongoing conflict, the
PSEA Network will continue to prioritize updating
SEA risk assessments, strengthening sub-national
PSEA network capacity, and continued rollout of the
reporting framework to raise awareness and promote
compliance. Actions will be undertaken through the
53
UNCT and HCT to promote accountability for SEA
amongst senior leaders.
The PSEA Network will continue to tailor PSEA training
programmes to ensure they are fully accessible and
meaningful for local organizations with sessions
all conducted with simultaneous translation. The
purpose is to generate much-needed buy-in from
local organizations to effectively implement the
internal PSEA policies that are vital as the local
response scales up. Localization efforts are aligned
with the GiHA CoP and the AAP Working Group’s
strategy to build local capacity among Myanmar-led
organizations, help understand the root causes of
SEAH, and to improve access to complaints and
feedback mechanisms.
The Network will continue to work closely with the
GBV and Child Protection AoRs to ensure that timely
referral, access to services and provision of support
is available and that case managers are able to
appropriately support SEA survivors. The network
supports clusters to mainstream PSEA actions and
messages in their activities. This work is intended
to support the implementation of the UN Protocol
on the Provision of Assistance to Victims of Sexual
Exploitation and Abuse as well as to guide Network
members to refer the SEA victims to needed GBV
support services in a timely manner. It also aligns with
the HCT’s new Protection Strategy.
Accountability to Affected People
Over the past several years, efforts have been
undertaken to expand AAP and its mainstreaming in
the response across the country. Progress has been
slower than planned due to resourcing and logistical
issues, but during 2020 and 2021, humanitarian
organizations laid the groundwork for enhanced
HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023
accountability through a mapping of the AAP
landscape in-country, after which the national-level
AAP and Community Engagement Working Group
(AAP/CE WG) was established. During 2022, the AAP/
CE WG had an expanding membership, including
additional representatives from clusters to ensure a
feedback loop. At present, nearly 40 organizations are
active members of AAP/CE WG. The AAP/CE WG aims
to support the embedding of AAP priorities, principles,
and tools throughout humanitarian partners’ work.
As local partners continue to play a growing role in
the delivery of humanitarian assistance, it is critical
to ensure contextualized AAP training materials are
available in Myanmar language. In line with such
efforts, in 2022 the AAP/CE WG developed and
launched a face-to-face and online course on AAP in
Myanmar language for humanitarian staff across the
country. The WG also translated key global videos
and resources on AAP for use in training and capacity
strengthening. These local organizations are an
invaluable resource for insights into the priorities
and preferences of their communities, and therefore,
fostering their understanding and application of AAP is
an essential first step.
At the sub-national level, new AAP working groups
were established in 2022 with the aim of strengthening
collective accountability and community engagement
in line with the national action plan. A Rapid
Information, Communication, and Accountability
Assessment (RICAA) is being rolled out through
sub-national AAP working groups and protection
networks as a collective and common service tool
to engage at-risk communities and affected people
across the country. The RICAA is meant to be used
collectively by members of the sub-national AAP
working groups and protection networks to avoid
overlap and duplication of community consultations
and engagement across agencies or organizations.
Towards a collective accountability mechanism
Gaps remain in order to better promote long-term
AAP coordination, collective information collection
and sharing, as well as follow-up action across
the response. There is a clear need for more
systematic and sustainable collection of AAP data
54
through an inter-agency mechanism. Mapping of
the AAP landscape illustrated that while individual
organizations, programmes and displacement sites
are collecting feedback and complaints from affected
people, collective analysis of data and trends is
lacking. A collective AAP mechanism in Myanmar in
2023 and beyond is a priority to allow for better sharing
of data across the humanitarian response (across
organizations, sectors, clusters, and geographical
regions) and facilitate more agile responsiveness to
the needs expressed. During the first half of 2022,
the AAP/CE WG supported consultations among
members to gauge interest in a collective complaints
and response mechanism and developed a concept
note and standard operating procedures (SOPs) for the
platform. A comprehensive action plan to address the
need for more systematic and sustainable collection
of AAP data through an inter-agency mechanism was
also endorsed.
The AAP/CE WG continues to seek funds to develop
and maintain the collective feedback and response
mechanism for Myanmar. This support would help
to increase accountability of humanitarian actors to
affected communities and create clearer pathways
for affected people to feed into a shared humanitarian
response. It would also enable joint consideration
of overall trends in perceptions, preferences
and experiences of affected people, and shared
identification of improvements.
In the interim, for the purposes of the HNO analysis
and the 2023 HRP planning, OCHA analyzed a sample
of 126 FGDs conducted by 8 organizations, AAP
common platforms shared across 24 organizations,
53 post-distribution monitoring (PDM) surveys and
assessments across 20 partners, consultations with
more than 150 CSO representatives,59 and 3 multi-
sector assessments or online surveys. OCHA and the
Technical Advisory Group on Disability Inclusion also
held a dedicated consultation with 26 representatives
from 8 OPDs, complete with both sign and Myanmar
language interpretation, to further inform this analysis.
A youth survey was also a key data source. While
not comprehensive or statistically representative,
this sample analysis provided a snapshot of the
overall needs, preferences, and challenges being
HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023
communicated by affected communities and their
desires regarding support. Planning has been done
with these preferences at front of mind, particularly
around the desire for more assistance to be delivered
via multi-purpose cash which the ICCG has committed
to transition towards by 2024. The focus on conflict-
affected areas in the HRP and the response to rapidly
diminishing coping capacity of host communities is
further evidence of the humanitarian community’s
responsiveness to priorities expressed by affected
people. Approaches to youth programming have also
been heavily influenced by the views expressed by
young people working as part of youth organizations,
while the ICCG has again pledged to continue work
on improving data collection on disability response –
something proved challenging in 2022 and which was
highlighted in the consultations with OPDs. A strategy
to tackle the latter will be part of the agenda for the
2023 ICCG retreat in February.
To further enhance a more responsive and effective
operational collective accountability mechanism, one
of the priorities for 2023 will be to support existing or
emerging sub-national AAP coordination platforms or
networks and ongoing implementation of activities of
various agencies focusing on two-way communication,
community consultations, localization with emphasis
on a more impactful community participation, diversity
and inclusion, and improving of feedback mechanisms
with an effective system in place.
The national AAP/CE WG will continue to advocate
for a seamless approach to ensuring that effective
community engagement remains front and centre
of the response. Crucial to this will be ensuring that
accurate and timely information is shared with at-risk
communities and people in need, that their feedback
is properly addressed, and their participation is
prioritized. For 2023, the new AAP work plan and
strategy will be tested, applied, further contextualized,
and improved in real-time as partners respond to life-
saving and evolving needs of affected communities.
55
AAP training and capacity development
A clear need has been identified around training and
capacity development in AAP and this will be a focus
for 2023. Following the events of 1 February 2021,
local partners have played a growing role in the delivery
of humanitarian assistance, and it is critical to further
connect with these organizations on AAP priorities
and principles so that these can underpin their work.
These organizations are also deeply embedded in
their communities and are an invaluable resource that
can serve as a conduit for sharing insights into the
priorities and preferences of the people they serve.
Contextualizing of the AAP training components is
needed to ensure that various agencies understand
how to localize the essential components of AAP,60 the
type of AAP activities,61 and the effective systems62
that will support various community feedback
mechanisms in place, and ensure they are highly
functional and responsive.63
Monitoring of cross-cutting response issues
Last year, the AAP/CE WG, the Gender in Humanitarian
Action (GiHA) Workstream and the PSEA Network
jointly developed four indicators related to AAP,
GiHA and PSEA to be included by clusters in their
regular monitoring and in any system-wide analysis
efforts. The incorporation of these four indicators
and reflection on the results for 2022 has prompted
a renewed commitment to embedding AAP in the
HPC, cementing it as a non-negotiable pillar of the
humanitarian response. The AAP/CE WG has agreed
to maintain these indicators in 2023, allowing for 2022
results to act as a baseline against which partners can
work to improve for 2023.
The agreed indicators are as follows:
1. Percentage of affected people who can access
safe feedback and complaint channels.
2. Percentage of affected people who feel that
their opinions are considered in humanitarian
decision-making.
HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023
3. Percentage of affected people who feel that the
assistance received is appropriate and tailored
to their needs.
4. Number of humanitarian workers reached by
capacity-building sessions on response-wide
accountability (including AAP, PSEA and Gender).
The first of these indicators is consistent with the IASC
PSEA country-level indicator and will be measured
through inputs from clusters as well as PSEA Network
members. The second and third indicators focus
on perceptions of affected populations regarding
humanitarian assistance and will be measured
through perception surveys planned for 2023. The
fourth indicator focuses on capacity strengthening
and reflects activities undertaken in several clusters
KAYIN
IDP children display cards showing their future ambitions during a
career session in Kayin 2022. Credit: Save the Children
56
(including CCCM, Education, Protection and WASH) in
addition to specific activities led by the PSEA Network
and by a dedicated AAP training consultant. The last
indicator highlights the priority of empowering local
actors throughout the response which is especially
important given the diverse needs of affected people,
the nature of the response across Myanmar and
difficulties around humanitarian access to and by
people in need.
In 2023, resources are required to conduct perception
monitoring to better understand the needs and
preferences of affected people and tailor humanitarian
response accordingly. Perception analysis is important
to track the humanitarian community’s collective
HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023
accountability to, and engagement with, affected
people in line with the above indicators.
Dedicated support
There is a need for a sustainable approach to AAP,
which will require more Myanmar CSOs and NGOs
to be engaged and take on leadership roles moving
into 2023. Dedicated staff are required to ensure
the institutionalization and sustainability of AAP
objectives, including through capacity-strengthening
support for the expanding AAP/CE WG membership
and more robust coordination of the implementation of
the AAP/CE WG overall strategy and workplan. The use
of the local language in documents and meetings also
needs to be supported.
In 2023, an international AAP specialist and two
dedicated national staff have been resourced to
work towards the development and operation of
a collective feedback and response mechanism
and a collective AAP dashboard representing the
voices of affected communities to inform strategic
decision-making. Having dedicated coordination
and IM support will contribute to the facilitation and
provision of awareness campaigns, advocacy support
and AAP training, inter-agency assessments such as
perception surveys and risk analysis, and inter-agency
community engagement. With this additional support
available in 2023, the AAP/CE WG aims to strengthen
linkages between national and sub-national working
groups, including identifying referral pathways, and
identifying AAP common data points, including by
feeding data and information into the humanitarian
programme cycle.
57
AAP challenges
In 2023, a key challenge will be how to ensure
that accountability and engagement mechanisms
and initiatives are accessible to the high number
of people in need, particularly in areas of the
country that previously did not have a humanitarian
presence and where access and communications
are challenging. This also requires commitment to
ensuring communications to and with affected people
are tailored to their diversity in language, literacy, and
individual characteristics, to ensure inclusion and
comfort in utilizing them.
While understanding the needs of affected people
is vital for an effective humanitarian response, the
current context presents numerous challenges. Access
constraints and the risks affected people face in
speaking out are two of the most significant factors
limiting what can be achieved around data collection,
accountability, and engagement. Securing adequate
funding to carry out the safe, collective AAP work also
poses a considerable challenge.
Also crucial is the inclusive process of monitoring
and sustaining the current operational sub-national
activities of AAP. The creation of field-level working
groups, networks, and task forces are all dependent
on the interest, capacities, and resources of
certain clusters, agencies, and implementing or
operational partners. While this may work locally
and contextually, it also may undermine the overall
strategic and operational goal of mainstreaming the
collective AAP in humanitarian action if not properly
coordinated and managed.
HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023

Youth perspectives on response

Through interviews with youth humanitarian networks and responders across Myanmar, young people report
that they have fast become primary responders in many areas where access by larger organizations is not
possible. This connection means that many of these youth humanitarian networks are able to understand the
current needs of IDPs and other local dynamics in ways that other organizations cannot. Despite this unique
access, these young aid workers and responders emphasized that they are underequipped and underfunded for
the kind of work they are undertaking and are in need of humanitarian capacity building.

Youth responders say they face significant personal hardship reaching and delivering aid to IDPs in the most
challenging areas. For example, responders say they frequently go hungry themselves as they travel to IDP
sites; that they are at high risk of being arrested or attacked by combatants in the course of their activities;
and that they are exposed to trauma and personal economic uncertainty without psychosocial or livelihoods
support. Youth responders noted they feel excluded from more established humanitarian networks, the broader
information shared there, and the funds that are channeled through them.

Youth responders want to be recognized for their effective, cost-efficient networks and ways of working. In fact,
among surveys of more than 2,000 young people across Myanmar, 88 per cent said they felt that international
programs often cause unintentional harm when they implement humanitarian work without relying on the
expertise of local youth networks who are uniquely positioned to provide advice.

To address this, youth networks requested that they be supported to integrate their informal and organic
systems with more formalized international humanitarian structures. U-Reporters64 want humanitarian
organizations to listen to the voices of young people and collaborate more closely with them when delivering
assistance. Youth networks also gave the following feedback on ways the current humanitarian response can
help ensure meaningful participation of young people:

• Develop and apply targeting selection processes based on thorough youth-actor-led context and conflict
(sensitivity) assessments.
• Support LGBTQIA+ youth responder networks in communicating the particular risks and needs associated
with people with non-binary gender identities and in asserting the importance of their work in the current
political and humanitarian crisis.
• Drop any requirements for visibility (e.g. logos) and in-person workshops or monitoring in partnerships with
youth humanitarian actors.
• Recognize and help youth responders identify and reduce the significant physical (as well as emotional)
personal hardship they go through.

58
HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023
1.7
Cash and Voucher Assistance
An August 2022 food security assessment of 200
people (127 women and 73 men from Kachin and
northern Shan) on gender and GBV issues around
cash-based transfers people noted a wide range of
benefits. In the survey, 96 per cent of women and 92
per cent of men said household relationships were
more peaceful after receiving cash assistance; 87
per cent of women and 45 per cent of men said they
knew about available services to respond to cases of
GBV; 80 per cent of women and men reported they
had received a GBV awareness session(s). Similar
assessments often indicate that cash assistance is
the preferred assistance modality of beneficiaries and
local implementing partners. However, cash assistance
still makes up only a relatively small amount of the
overall humanitarian response in Myanmar. For
example, cash makes up only 15.7 per cent of the food
sector response.65 While cash assistance constitutes
a minority of support delivered overall, in hard-to-reach
locations, it is outsized and often the predominant type
of assistance.
It is globally widely accepted that Multi-Purpose Cash
(MPC) assistance is often the most effective way of
meeting the multi-sectoral needs of affected people.
In Myanmar, households targeted for assistance
in the HRP spend, on average, 65 per cent of their
monthly income on food, which means households
also spend a significant amount of money on meeting
other sectoral needs, including health, fuel, and relief
items (NFIs).66 As such, a transfer value that is more
accurately aligned the full range of people’s needs
makes strategic sense.
In late 2022, the CWG and OCHA held consultations
on the state of MPC assistance in Myanmar. During
the meeting with Cluster Coordinators, it was
determined that while many partners are already
distributing considerable amounts of unrestricted cash
59
assistance equivalent to sectoral needs or based on
available funds, a more systematic MPC approach,
set against people’s minimum or survival needs is
rarely being used. There is often a lack of uniformity
across agencies regarding shared objectives to meet
multi-sectoral needs, common transfer values, and
outcome measurements. Therefore, the CWG and
the ICCG have agreed to work together in 2023 to
provide a more systematic basis for MPC assistance
across the response including clarity on targeting,
geographic focus, and links to the overall outcomes
and objectives of the HRP, with a view to more
systematic implentation in 2024. The CWG will also
provide training on how partners can use the endorsed
Minimum Expenditure Basket (MEB) and Survival
Minimum Expenditure Basket (SMEB) and work
towards aligned outcome monitoring. In addition, the
prioritization of expanded market price monitoring,
through the establishment of a Joint Market Monitoring
Initiative (JMMI), depending on available funding, will
support the reliability of the MEB and SMEBs that will
underpin the transition.
In the interim, partners that wish to implement MPC
assistance are encouraged to provide immediate relief
assistance and unconditional cash transfer values set
against either the MEB or SMEB. By using the MEB
or SMEB as the benchmark for what a household
needs, partners should conduct needs assessments
to determine the ability of a household to meet those
needs. Thus, informing a transfer value of either the
entire gap or a percentage of the gap.
HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023

Part 2:
Response Monitoring

RAKHINE
Unconditional cash grant distribution to recipients in Rakhine,
2022. Credit: FAO

60
HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023
2.1
Monitoring Approach
The overall monitoring of the humanitarian response
will be based on the nationwide targets, objectives and
indicators set by clusters and agreed to by the HCT
in this HRP. The ICCG will take primary responsibility
for ensuring that monitoring activities are completed,
including regular reporting on the implementation
of cluster response plans, progress on cross-cutting
issues and analysis of challenges being faced. For
the 2023 HRP, the quarterly reporting cycle, started in
2022, will be maintained following positive feedback
from donors and clusters. This will encompass a
detailed report completed at the middle and end of the
year that outlines cluster achievements, challenges,
and recommendations for course correction. A
more concise dashboard on interim progress will be
published for quarter 1 and quarter 3. Additionally,
clusters will develop or continue producing a range of
reports on the activities of their partners throughout
the year, with several clusters moving to monthly
instead of quarterly reporting cycles. Clusters will
discuss improved alignment of internal reporting
deadlines during the annual ICCG retreat planned
for February.
OCHA will continue producing its monthly humanitarian
updates (sitreps) with inputs from clusters highlighting
Humanitarian Programme Cycle Timeline
JAN FEB MAR
Humanitarian Needs Overview
Humanitarian Response Plan
Periodic Monitoring Report*
Humanitarian Snapshot
* The Myanmar response conducts quarterly HRP monitoring with a dashboard published for Q1 and Q3 and a full progress report at
mid-year and year-end. These are usually published about 8 weeks after the end of the quarter.
61
nationwide needs, response, gaps and constraints,
with flash updates utilized to highlight sudden changes
in humanitarian need and context as needed. Public
websites, including ReliefWeb and MIMU, will be
utilized to disseminate various information products to
a wider audience.
The 2023 HRP monitoring framework has been
designed to track and monitor cluster response
activities delivered both to those directly impacted
by the effects of conflict and disaster, and activities
benefiting other crisis-affected people who have
humanitarian needs due to the wide deterioration in the
situation. Strategic Objectives have been simplified in
the 2023 HRP to facilitate simpler reporting processes
with greater clarity on where cluster activities
should be inputted. Additionally, there are indicators
monitoring the incidence of and response to the
increased protection concerns of civilians resulting
from conflict, including through the promotion of IHL
and IHRL. The ICCG plans to conduct a second annual
Multi-Sector Needs Analysis in 2023 which will allow
clusters to monitor trends and the impact of their
interventions with a national lens over time.
APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC
HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023
Priorities for 2023 include:
• Maintaining a quarterly monitoring reporting cycle
• Monitoring displacement and returns figure
against projections to facilitate response course
corrections if required.
• Aligning internal cluster reporting deadlines,
guidance, and information requests to partners as
recommended by the P-2-P review.
• Implementation of a monitoring framework that
is national and incorporates all clusters with
expanded inputs from local partners.
• Ensuring adequate information gathering and
analysis capacity across all affected regions of
SHAN
Food distribution in an underserved rural community, southern Shan, 2022.
Credit: UNOPS/LIFT
62
Myanmar, with a particular focus on hard-to-reach
areas covered in the 2023 HRP.
• Completion of cluster-specific and multi-sector
needs analysis to inform the mid-year review of the
2023 HRP and 2024 HRP.
• Ensuring sufficient mechanisms are in place for
monitoring and reporting on violations of IHL and
IHRL in line with the new HCT Protection Strategy.
• Continued use and enhancement of the
ICCG Information Sharing Protocol to
improve confidence in data security and
promote resporting.
HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023

Part 3:
Cluster Objectives and Response

KAYAH
IDP children read landmine education booklets at a temporary shelter
in Kayah. 2022. Credit: UNICEF

63
HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023

3.1
Overview

The humanitarian community, working through the
clusters, has developed an ambitious and heavily
prioritized plan to address the escalating humanitarian
needs of 4.5 million people in Myanmar in 2023.
While needs have grown exponentially, clusters
have been realistic in assessing how many people
they can reach given the heavily restricted access,
ongoing bureaucratic constraints, funding trends, and
escalating conflict that are all persistent impediments
to delivery. While the heavier prioritization has resulted
in significant gaps between needs and response at
a time of surging displacement, the HCT felt it was
critical to highlight the full scale of the situation in the
HNO, while offering a more pragmatic capacity-guided
plan in the HRP, as encouraged by donors. Despite the
obstacles outlined above, every cluster has identified
opportunities to scale-up and expand reach to the
increasing number of crisis-affected populations
in conflict-affected locations, depending on access
trends and funding support from donors.
The 2023 response strategy is predicated on the
prioritization of critical and life-saving assistance to
the most affected and vulnerable civilians who are
bearing the brunt of the increasingly brutal conflict:
IDPs whose number more than doubled in 2022
alone; returnees, resettled, locally integrated people,
non-displaced stateless people, and other crisis-
affected people with elevated humanitarian needs. The
tightening of humanitarian targeting is hinged on the
realization of closer collaboration with development
actors, delivering responses under the SERRP, who
will be scaling up support to people with resilience
needs, especially in peri-urban and urban areas that
are enduring the impacts of the large-scale disruptions,
socioeconomic shocks, and rising inflation triggered or
aggravated by the ongoing political situation.
In line with the HCT’s commitment to the strengthening
of national capacities, all clusters are planning
enhanced support and training for local and
community-based approaches to ensure service
delivery in areas that are hard-to-reach for international
organizations. Expanding these partnerships was a
critical enabler for the response scale-up in 2022 and
will continue to be so in 2023.
The Health Cluster, which aims to reach 2.3 million
people in 2023, stands out in terms of scale-up of the
emergency response to the heavily disrupted public

Planned Humanitarian Response by Cluster

FINANCIAL REQUIREMENTS NO. OPERATIONAL PEOPLE IN NEED PEOPLE IN NEED

(US$) PARTNERS TARGETED TARGET

Education 86M 75 3.8M 1.3M

Food Security 192M 71 15.2M 2.1M

Health 106M 72 10M 2.3M

Nutrition 48M 35 2.2M 590K

Protection 124M 77 11.5M 2.1M

Shelter/NFI/CCCM 88M 57 3M 952K

WASH 112M 45 5.2M 1.6M

64
HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023
health systems as a result of the attacks and clashes,
CDM, and lack of funding in 2022. A further worsening
of the impact of the large-scale departure of qualified
staff and acute shortages of essential medicines and
medical supplies is putting millions, including women
and children, at grave risk.
The Food Security Cluster plans to reach 2.1 million
people, prioritizing the most acutely vulnerable IDPs
and other crisis-affected people who risk malnutrition
without immediate and sustained emergency food and
subsistence agricultural support to stave-off hunger
and widespread acute malnutrition. A corresponding
nutrition response, prioritizing 600,000 of the most
affected and vulnerable people, including malnourished
children and pregnant and nursing mothers, will be
delivered by the Nutrition Cluster to mitigate against
the risks of mortalities linked to moderate and severe
malnutrition.
The Education Cluster will aim to deliver critical
education in emergency services to some 1.3
million displaced and crisis-affected children, whose
psychosocial, mental, and emotional development have
been upended by the ongoing crisis and the pandemic,
forcing nationwide school closures, damage to schools
and boycotts.
The Shelter/NFI/CCCM and WASH clusters will support
some 900,000 and 1.6 million people respectively,
mostly new and protracted IDPs across camps, and
other acutely vulnerable people to access critical
services including potable water, sanitation and
emergency shelter to protect them from safety
65
threats and extreme weather conditions and mitigate
against the risks of deadly waterborne diseases
such as cholera.
Despite the tightening in targeting across the response
more broadly, the Protection Cluster aims to marginally
increase emergency support to 2.1 million people
in 2023 (up from 2 million in 2022) in recognition of
the deteriorating protection environment, escalating
displacement and the impact the economic crisis is
having on living standards of people, increasing the risk
of negative coping practices.
Protection programmes and mechanisms will be
mainstreamed across all cluster response activities
in 2023 in demonstration of the humanitarian
community’s commitment to delivering an efficient and
transparent response that is accountable to affected
people. Increased focus will also be put on joint
analysis, improved coordination around data collection
and information management, as well as additional
effort to facilitate local partners in their work, ensuring
their analysis and contribution are fully captured and
are informing the overall cluster and inter-cluster
response strategies. All clusters strive to enhance
the use of integrated, cross-sectoral approaches in
the planning and delivery of the response, which is
especially important in such a restrictive environment.
OCHA will support the clusters in their ambition
to significantly expand and prioritize their reach,
thereby alleviating the suffering of Myanmar’s most
vulnerable people.
HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023
3.2
Response Analysis
Guided by the decisions of the ICCG and the HCT,
the response framework maintains the expanded
geographical scope of analysis agreed in 2022, to
cover all states and regions across Myanmar. It looks
at humanitarian needs using a broad lens to calculate
the number of people in acute humanitarian need,
primarily because of increased food insecurity and
the increased adoption of negative coping strategies.
The 2023 numbers – 17.6 million people in need –
continued to reflect the unprecedented scale and
depth of the humanitarian implications from recent
events, especially on women, children, the elderly and
persons with disabilities. This methodology frames the
situation in Myanmar as a whole-of-country, complex
and multi-dimensional crisis, where there are grave
protection risks and food insecurity is deepening,
requiring humanitarian interventions at-scale to stop
people slipping into more severe need, including acute
malnutrition.
Several larger datasets have been used in 2023 to
establish intersectoral vulnerability. An MSNA was
conducted across Myanmar for the first time in 2022
using a hybrid approach (in person and remote data
collection). The joint FAO/WFP Food Security and
Livelihoods Assessment was conducted in 2021, in
April 2022 and again between August and September
2022 in 14 states and regions (Ayeyarwady, Bago,
Chin, Kachin, Kayah, Kayin, Magway, Mandalay, Mon,
Rakhine, Sagaing, Shan, Tanintharyi, Yangon) informing
response planning. For the first time, the 2023 HRP has
used common projections of displacement, voluntary
returns and of disaster impacts to more accurately
plan for the evolution of needs over the year ahead,
learning lessons from 2022 when actual numbers of
IDPs drastically outstripped the planning figures used.
The response framework is informed by a rigorous
response planning and targeting exercise conducted at
66
national and sub-national levels (multiple sub-national
workshops were held in different parts of the country
seeking insights from more than 200 people who
participated), is reflective of anticipated trends,
incorporates a realistic assessment of response
capacity and anticipates tighter access constraints.
This planning process also considered the specific
vulnerability characteristics of population groups,
including issues around age, gender, disabilities,
mental health and sexual orientation and exposure to
negative coping strategies. As such, the main groups
of people in need were identified as IDPs; returned,
resettled and locally integrated IDPs; non-displaced
stateless people; and other crisis-affected people with
humanitarian needs.
In 2023, humanitarian partners have tightened
their targets. This tightening partly reflects moves
by development actors to scale-up after a pause
in many activities in 2021-2022 during which
time humanitarians exceptionally expanded their
programming to ensure no one was left behind.
In 2023, it is anticipated that development actors
will be able to support those at-risk of slipping into
humanitarian need through programming focused
on resilience, prevention, and improved living-
conditions. The tighter target for the 2023 HRP is
based on the assumption that development actors
will continue this scale-up, particularly taking on the
peri-urban caseloads that were added to the HRP
in 2022 in the immediate aftermath of COVID-19
which hit these communities especially hard. The
2023 HRP focuses more closely on emergency, life-
saving humanitarian responses. Some very critical
preventative programming is also included, such as
children’s nutrition programming, but the bulk of the
resilience activities included in the 2022 HRP have now
been transitioned to the SERRP for a nexus response.
The tightening of the response target also reflects
HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023
the realities that both funding and access in 2023 are
expected to remain increasingly constrained, while
acknowledging that advocacy efforts will continue
to reverse this. As of 31 December 2022, the 2022
HRP was just over one-third (35 per cent) funded.
Partners have also planned in line with the reality that
the current financial and access trends of 2022 will
continue into 2023.
The HCT is keen to engage with a wider range
of stakeholders in 2023 to advance and unblock
implementation challenges, including greater national-
level engagement on access advocacy. The response
analysis and design take into account the reality that
national and local organizations are at the forefront of
efforts to reach people in need. The HRP emphasizes
that work will be needed to adapt the response
to be more inclusive and fit-for-purpose in these
circumstances. Capacity-building of local partners will
remain critical, as will careful management of security,
protection and other risks pertaining to these same
actors. A new fit-for-purpose coordination structure
for 2023 and an HCT Localization Strategy that is
under development will support and give shape to
these efforts.
Response modalities and approaches
In 2023, response modalities primarily involve
in-kind assistance, service provision and the direct
distribution of physical cash. This follows severe
cash liquidity shortages, strict cash withdrawal
limits by financial service providers (FSPs) and their
inconsistent delivery of services in 2022, which
reversed the earlier expansion of CVA and a shift to
digital delivery. Despite the operational challenges,
significant steps are being taken in close consultation
with affected communities to overcome banking
difficulties and market access. Private sector solutions
may also be considered as part of the response mix as
appropriate.
In 2023, more than 60 humanitarian partners, in
coordination with the CWG and the ICCG, will continue
in 2023 to explore the possibility of launching joint
multi-purpose cash programmes in line with the
minimum expenditure basket and to jointly monitor the
67
communities’ secure access to markets, as well as the
price for both food and non-food items.
The humanitarian response will be underpinned by
the principles of humanity, impartiality, neutrality and
independence, with humanitarian actors engaging
with all sides in a bid to raise protection issues and
negotiate access to people in need. The overall
humanitarian response strategy is guided by and based
on adherence to and promotion of IHL and IHRL.
Disability inclusion and people with specific needs
The needs of women and men with disabilities,
children, and older people are distinct and will be given
targeted and sustained attention and support. These
groups, and their capacities, are often neglected when
designing and implementing humanitarian responses,
and concerted effort is paramount when ensuring their
active engagement is part of the inception and delivery
of humanitarian responses.
The humanitarian community must strategically
strengthen the collection, management,
disaggregation, and analysis of information on
the impact of conflict on persons with disabilities.
Inclusion of persons with disabilities in humanitarian
response planning at the earliest possible stage is
critical to ensuring programmes are designed to suit
their unique needs. This will be achieved by centering
the voices of persons with disabilities to ensure the
humanitarian response is effective and led by persons
with disabilities, with an inclusive approach and an
intersectional lens.
HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023
3.3
National Scale-Up and Sub-National Coordination
In light of the intensifying conflict and increasing
humanitarian needs across the country, all clusters
(except Logistics) remain activated countrywide. This
was first approved in August 2021 with endorsement
from the HCT, IASC Principals and the Emergency
Relief Coordinator to increase response capacity.
With the roll-out of clusters at the national level, the
ICCG took on the task of strengthening both existing
and new coordination structures at national and
sub-national level. At the national level, all clusters will
further enhance their efforts towards putting in place
NGO co-leadership, following best practices of the
Education and Food Security Clusters.
To date, humanitarian partners in the Northeast
(Kachin and northern Shan) have ensured
complementary and area-based coordination through
General Coordination Meetings (GCM), the Area
Humanitarian Coordination Team (AHCT) in Kachin,
and sub-national ICCGs. Partners collaborate across
both states on thematic areas to maximize collective
reach. Operational coordination of humanitarian
action in Rakhine to date has been carried out
through geographically defined coordination bodies,
i.e. the Maungdaw Inter-Agency Group (MIAG) and
the Sittwe-based ICCG supported by other technical
working groups, under the strategic leadership of the
Rakhine Coordination Group and HCT respectively.
Informed by strategic guidance from the HCT, the
national ICCG and the Southeast Working Group
(SEWG), a Southeast ICCG and sub-national cluster
and technical working groups have been established
to scale-up cluster coordination and better link up the
operational response. At the state level, ad interim
networks have been established, such as the Inter-
Agency Coordination Groups (IACGs) in Kayin, covering
also eastern Bago, Mon and Tanintharyi, and another
IACG in Kayah, covering southern Shan as well, and
continue to coordinate and inform local humanitarian
68
action. A new ICCG for the Northwest was also stood
up in 2022 given the surge in displacement and
expansion of needs and operations in this area. It has
mostly conducted its coordination work remotely with
support from colleagues in Sittwe and Yangon due to
movement constraints.
In Rakhine and in the Southeast, the Rakhine
Coordination Group (RCG) and the Southeast Working
Group (SEWG) respectively seek to promote linkages
across humanitarian, human rights, development, and
peacebuilding constituencies. This is done through
participation by development partners, INGOs, and UN
agencies, enabling individual mandates to be followed
as needed, while at the same time encouraging
information-sharing and a more integrated overall
approach. In the Southeast, the SEWG set up a
small humanitarian secretariat composed of one
representative each from the INGO Forum, OCHA
and UNHCR in reflection of the increased focus on
humanitarian response.
P-2-P mission – fit-for-purpose coordination
Following the HCT retreat in February 2022, the
HC a.i. requested a P-2-P mechanism to support
Myanmar through a review mission. The request was
made in follow-up to the HCT’s decision to trigger
an in-depth review of the existing humanitarian
coordination structure in Myanmar with the objective
to make recommendations on a more fit-for-purpose
design that is better able to effectively facilitate the
humanitarian response in a severely restrictive and
highly dynamic operating environment, with limited
humanitarian funding. The P2P mission carried
out a two-week virtual mission and held a series
of consultations with more than 50 stakeholder
groups, including clusters, CSOs, NGOs, working
groups (both at national and sub-national levels),
and affected communities. The mission made
HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023
key recommendations related to the challenging
humanitarian context and access constraints, stronger
engagement with local actors, funding shortages,
the streamlining of coordination mechanisms at the
sub-national levels, as well as a call for increased
nexus coordination.
Based on the P-2-P recommendations and action
plan, the HCT agreed to a series of prioritized
recommendations and will implement these, inter alia,
through workstreams on coordination and localization
and other efforts. Several recommendations are
already under implementation. Progress on the action
plan will be tracked and presented via a regular agenda
item at HCT meetings. Further discussions will be held
on the main workstreams in preparation for the ICCG
and HCT retreats in February 2023. At the HCT retreat
a new fit-for-purpose coordination architecture will be
endorsed replacing the arrangements outlined above
from 2022. This will include a new Rakhine-wide cluster
coordination arrangement with transition arrangements
already under discussion between OCHA and UNHCR.
Sub-national coordination training
With several clusters expanding their response
capacity through newly recruited sub-national cluster
coordinators, OCHA’s coordination and field support
sections organized and conducted induction training
on the fundamentals of humanitarian coordination.
Altogether 40 sub-national cluster coordinators
and focal points completed the training session on
69
coordination basics, the role of cluster coordinators
and how they fit within the broader coordination
structures, knowledge on HPC processes and
information management products. The training was
intended to build the capacity of sub-national cluster
coordinators, with the overall objective of ensuring that
they understand the structure and mechanisms of the
humanitarian coordination system and can apply a
comprehensive and holistic approach when responding
to the needs of affected people in their areas.
Sub-national coordinators involved in the training are
pivotal to the coordination of humanitarian responses
in their respective locations and are contributing to
the country’s humanitarian coordination system. Thus
understanding the clusters’ various functions and their
role was of great importance for effective day-to-day
coordination and function of clusters in both national
and sub-national levels. The impact of this induction
will help foster effective humanitarian response in line
with core humanitarian principles, further enhancing
the coordination among humanitarian actors and
partners working together on the ground.
.
HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023
3.4
Education
PEOPLE IN NEED PEOPLE TARGETED
3.8M 1.3M
REQUIREMENTS (US$) COST-PER-PERSON (US$)
86M 65
Cluster objectives (COs)
CO1: Crisis-affected and other vulnerable children and
youth including IDPs, returnees and stateless people
with humanitarian needs have continued access to
safe, inclusive, quality learning opportunities.
CO2: Crisis-affected and other vulnerable children and
youth including IDPs, returnees and stateless people
with humanitarian needs receive quality, protective, and
inclusive education that caters for their mental health
and psychosocial needs.
CO3: The capacity of communities and local/national
education partners is strengthened to support
safe and coordinated education that monitors and
responds to identified needs and mitigates impacts of
shocks and crises.
Response
Education in Myanmar has been severely affected by
the multi-dimensional crisis, including the COVID-19
pandemic and widespread unrest since the military
takeover of February 2021. Children have lost out on
organized learning opportunities for a period of two
academic years as a result of the pandemic-triggered
school closures and conflict/instability from the crisis,
including the departure of teaching staff as part of
the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) and attacks
on schools. Huge numbers of children are now on the
move and require education support in displacement
72
WOMEN AND GIRLS CHILDREN (0 - 18) WITH DISABILITIES
51% 95% 15%
PARTNERS
75
sites – many of them in hard-to-reach locations.
Myanmar’s economic crisis has placed pressure
on households often forcing them to de-prioritize
expenditure on some needs including education. This
context has informed the cluster response framework
and strategy for 2023 with millions of children facing
life-long consequences from lost years of learning.
The overall cluster target of 1.3 million people
(of which 561,389 girls and 508,975 boys) for
2023 is about a third of the 3.7 million people in
need, with heavy prioritization of those in higher
severity thresholds, as well as populations and/or
locations that are considered most vulnerable due
to a combination of factors such as displacement
trends (new and protracted), systemic exclusion
(statelessness), and access challenges, among others.
It includes children being targeted to receive early
childhood care and development (ECCD) support
through to basic education, as well as some youth and
adults (educators, caregivers, parents, PTA members).
With the post-takeover trend towards alternative,
non-state education, the cluster will work to support
improved standards for vulnerable and needy children
learning in these overburdened community-based
settings, through the provision of resources and
trainings for volunteer educators. Response capacity,
access and coordination across the nexus have
been considered in the Education Cluster’s 2023
HRP response strategy to ensure practicality and
HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023
alignment with the broader overarching education
response frameworks.
The Education Cluster primarily targets conflict-
affected children and communities: IDPs (55 per cent),
non-displaced stateless people (11 per cent), returnees
(6 per cent) and host communities/other vulnerable
populations (28 per cent). Even though the HRP
remains of national scale, peri-urban response (e.g.
Mandalay and Yangon) and regions and states with
lesser or limited impacts of conflict and displacement
(e.g. Ayeyarwady) have been excluded in 2023, in line
with the overall HRP prioritization strategy.
Whereas at the higher strategic level the 2023
Education Cluster response is to a large extent similar
to the 2022 HRP, at the operational level, activities and
indicators have been modified to reflect learnings and
feedback from cluster partners in 2022, improving
their usability. Particular attention is focused on life-
saving education in emergencies activities to facilitate
access to safe, relevant, inclusive and qualitative
learning opportunities. Activities under the system
strengthening component have been limited to only
those relevant and essential to supporting education
in emergencies (EiE) activities in the first line response
category such as working with PTAs, and supporting
capacity of local actors (partners, ethnic and monastic
education providers, etc). At the strategic level,
the 2023 HRP still aligns well with both the 3-year
Education Cluster strategy and the overarching Joint
Response Framework (JRF) ensuring convergence with
nexus and development priorities.
Based on the contextual realities, localized operational
modalities will continue to be preferred in 2023
- potentially on a higher scale than in 2022 - with
community level partners continuing to drive actual
assistance delivery because of access constraints.
Therefore, the cluster will work to ensure that
resourcing and capacity strengthening investments
are made to support these frontline partners to
ensure timely and quality response. A mixture of CVA
and in-kind modalities of assistance delivery will be
employed as feasibly within the local market dynamics
and context, adopting that which is safest and most
preferred by people receiving assistance. Teaching
73
incentives for volunteer teachers and educational
cash grants to support some minority and vulnerable
children’s education are some of the activities that
the cluster will prioritize through the CVA modality
in 2023. Inclusion and gender considerations will be
given specific attention in the education response
including providing menstrual health and hygiene
management support to adolescent school-going girls,
supporting disability accessibility in learning spaces
and mainstreaming protection in the overall response.
Education Cluster activities will include:
• Establishment/rehabilitation of temporary
learning spaces (TLSs) that are accessible to all
crisis-affected, displaced, returned and stateless
children and youth, including those with physical
disabilities.
• Providing and improving safe access to context-
appropriate and gender-segregated WASH facilities
in learning spaces.
• Providing and expanding safe access to
qualitative and inclusive non-formal education
opportunities for all displaced, returned, stateless
and crisis-affected children and youth (ECCD and
basic education).
• Providing individual, age/task-appropriate, and
inclusive learning materials/education supplies
for use by learners and educators (learners
and educators’ kits: notebooks, pencils, pens,
backpacks, uniforms, etc).
• Equipping learning spaces with appropriate
supplies (e.g. blackboards, furniture, chalk, etc).
• Providing CVA for education (based on feasibility
and preference).
• Providing age and context-appropriate menstrual
health and hygiene management information
sessions and materials/supplies (sanitary
pads/napkins/towels) to adolescent girls in
learning spaces.
• Recruitment and retention of quality educators
through the provision of incentives and appropriate
remuneration.
• Provision of EiE-relevant capacity building
support to volunteer and community educators
(EiE, learner-centered pedagogy, socioemotional
HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023
learning, psychosocial support, disaster risk
reduction, child protection, child safeguarding, etc).
• Providing inclusive age and context-appropriate
supplementary open learning materials and
resources to displaced and other conflict-affected
children and youth to support their education.
• Training of educators and/or parents/caregivers in
effective use of supplementary learning materials.
• Strengthening the EiE response capacity of
CSOs, NNGOs, ethnic, monastic and local
partners (covering EORE, PSEA, advocacy,
coordination, resource mobilization, contingency
plans, AAP, etc).
• Providing capacity development support
to education committees/PTAs to actively
participate in education services in their
respective communities.
Integrated programming, multi-sectoral responses
and inter-cluster linkages
Child Protection AoR: The Education Cluster will
collaborate with the CP AoR to mainstream child
protection into education, to the extent possible within
the context, to ensure safe access to education and
consideration of children’s psychosocial support
needs. This collaboration will support linkages
between education and child protection services
through TLSs and child friendly spaces (CFSs),
incorporating CP-oriented training like safeguarding
and referral mechanisms in the teacher/educator
training packages. This collaboration will also
support joint advocacy on access to legal services
and documentation including civil documentation for
stateless and other crisis-affected children to promote
access to essential services including education.
Mine Action: The Education Cluster will collaborate
with the Mine Action AoR to increase children’s
awareness on mine risks, IEDs and other explosives
to safeguard them both within and outside school
environments.
WASH: The Education Cluster will work closely
with the WASH Cluster to improve the learning
environment through basic WASH-in-school activities.
This collaboration will also explore opportunities to
74
support schools through community-based WASH
interventions.
Food Security: The Education Cluster will work with
food security colleagues to ensure alignments between
activities across the HRP and SERRP; for example,
targeting same communities with food assistance
(HRP) and school feeding/gardening programming
(SERRP) for better impacts and outcomes on the
food security status of the target groups. Also, where
possible and relevant, food production could be
included in business/technical skills training for youth.
GBV: The Education Cluster will collaborate with the
GBV AoR to increase awareness among children and
teachers on the risks of GBV, and how to respond to
GBV disclosures and the relevant referral pathways for
appropriate support services.
Cost of the response
The Education Cluster 2023 HRP total financial
requirement is $86 million to reach 1.3 million
people with support. The funding will enable the
provision of basic facilities, supplies and capacity
to facilitate access to education in emergencies at
an average cost-per-person of $65, a slight increase
compared to 2022.
In the absence of specific inflation monitoring data for
education response inputs, and also considering that
all materials can be sourced from local (in country)
markets, an estimated 3 per cent inflation rate was
applied to the costing – translating to $2.5 million –
which is low compared to other clusters. Due to the
nature of education activities, protection is already
organically embedded in the cluster ’s activities but
an additional 2 per cent was further factored into
the costing to cater for any increased need due
to the potential changes in context, amounting to
$1.7 million.
Monitoring
The Education Cluster Monitoring Tool (ECMT), as
endorsed by the Global Education Cluster, will be the
main tool to track the Education Cluster response
in 2023. Local context adaptations will be made to
HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023
the tool in 2023, largely informed by lessons learnt
in 2022. Response data and trends will be collected
and analyzed to produce quarterly reports. Various
response reporting products generated from the ECMT
will be processed and shared with stakeholders and
partners on the cluster website (hosted by MIMU)
via dashboards.
In terms of capacity building, the Education Cluster
will undertake a partner capacity mapping exercise
and work with stakeholders to prioritize and address
capacity gaps and needs. To improve reporting, the
Education Cluster will organize ECMT orientation
workshops (in local languages) for all partners at hub
level to facilitate active participation, especially by local
partners. Also, orientation workshops on the cluster
website and dashboards will be organized at hub
level every quarter. Various trainings will be organized
throughout the year guided by the results of the partner
capacity mapping exercise to build capacity on key
mechanisms essential for qualitative response.
Capacity, gaps and limitations
The Education Cluster response for 2023 is set against
a backdrop of immense needs in the country. Many
parents were unable or unwilling to continue their
children’s education in formal schools run by the de
facto authorities and switched to the community-based
non-formal education stream which has since become
overburdened by the imbalance between demand
and supply. The country faces insufficient education
staffing both in the formal and non-formal education
streams, after 30 per cent of the professional teachers
were dismissed due to their involvement with the CDM.
Armed clashes in various parts of the country have
increased, causing more instability and displacement
of people including children. The economy is going
through difficult times, with high inflation and hike in
the prices of basic commodities and services, reducing
the available household spend on education.
The Education Cluster has a sizable number of
registered and active partners. However, from
reporting, not all registered cluster partners are actively
responding or reporting their activities. Whereas there
is willingness and zeal to respond across UN Agencies,
INGOs, and local partners, many partners face practical
75
logistical and bureaucratic challenges which limit their
operations, impeding the cluster ’s capacity to respond
at-scale to the immense needs and gaps.
Funding is one of the major impediments for the
Education Cluster response. As of quarter 4 of 2022,
the data available on the Financial Tracking System
(FTS) showed that the education response was only
funded at 8.9 per cent of the $91 million required to
support 1.4 million people targeted for assistance.
The impact of the funding deficit is reflected in the
low coverage amidst the increasing needs. The
under-achievement of the 2022 HRP response means
heightened education needs and vulnerability will
flow into 2023, exposing those with unmet needs
to high protection risks and likely use of negative
coping mechanisms.
The pre-existing gaps and unmet needs from 2022
increase the pressure from and burden of the 2023
Education Cluster response. While the Education
Cluster’s 2023 HRP funding outlook looks more
optimistic than 2022, with pipeline funding from
donors such as Education Cannot Wait (ECW) and
Global Partnerships for Education (GPE) already on the
way, the annual allocations from these pools are still
very small in comparison to the severity of the situation
and number of people in need.
Access impediments severely hampered the response
in 2022 and are projected to become even more
difficult in 2023 due to anticipated conflict trends,
requiring ongoing flexibility and localized responses.
Access challenges have forced changes in delivery
modalities, with the cluster largely working through
implementing partners – CSOs and NNGOs with solid
field-level networks. While this modality has supported
substantial assistance delivery to people in need, it
has come with some challenges, especially given the
limited technical capacity of some partners to deliver
responses at the expected standards. Additional
bureaucratic measures such as TA requirements
for aid staff to visit field locations and project sites
have impeded partners’ operations and ability to
respond. With the new organization registration
requirements announced in late 2022 and ongoing
conflict likely to mean continued restrictions in
HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023
various parts of the country, it is feared the education
landscape will worsen in 2023 requiring a robust
humanitarian response.
Links to development programming
Humanitarian-development collaboration in the
Myanmar education response will continue to be
strengthened to manage the learning crises facing
students and increase resilience to minimize and
prevent short and long-term consequences from the
disruption to education services. This is reflected in
the alignment of the Joint Response Framework (JRF)
and Cluster Strategy, including the shared priority areas
such as access, quality, system strengthening, among
others. The 2023 cluster response framework is
aligned to the above two main guidance frameworks.
SHAN
IDP children attend a community-based school in northern Shan, 2022.
Credit: Save the Children
76
The humanitarian Education Cluster participates
in the Education Sector Representative Group
(ESRG) on the development side, facilitating
efficient flow and exchange of relevant information
between humanitarian and development streams.
Harmonization of structures has been conducted
between the cluster and the ESRG, allowing the
cluster structures on common areas of interest,
such as teacher capacity building, to operate with the
required agility, while sharing information on plans
and progress to avoid duplication. A demonstration
of this coherence is the processing of the incoming
GPE Education Sector Program Implementation Grant
(ESPIG) project (being handled by the ESRG) which
will also benefit the humanitarian Education Cluster
response in 2023.
HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023
3.5
Food Security
PEOPLE IN NEED PEOPLE TARGETED
15.2M 2.1M
REQUIREMENTS (US$) COST-PER-PERSON (US$)
192M 91
Cluster objectives
CO1: More than 1.4M crisis-affected, IDPs including
728,000 females and 672,000 males have equitable
access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food through
in-kind and/or cash assistance.
CO2: More than 360,000 non-displaced vulnerable
people (187,000 females and 172,000 males) with
humanitarian needs have equitable access to
sufficient, safe and nutritious food through in-kind and/
or cash assistance.
CO3: Urgently restore, protect and improve livelihoods
of more than 533,000 crisis-affected people (277,000
women and 255,000 men) by rehabilitating agricultural
production,67 restoring/protecting productive assets,
and rebuilding or creating income-generating activities
to prevent use of negative (and potentially irreversible)
coping mechanisms.
Response
The political context of Myanmar has become very
unstable in 2022 with an escalation of the armed
conflict in almost all regions and states of the country.
The economic crisis, linked to both global inflation
due to the Ukraine crisis and the devaluation of the
Myanmar Kyat, is reducing people’s purchasing power
making food items even more unaffordable, where they
are available.
77
WOMEN AND GIRLS CHILDREN (0 - 18) WITH DISABILITIES
52% 36% 15%
PARTNERS
71
The overall goal of reaching 2.1 million people with
assistance through Food Security Cluster activities
is a conservative estimate based on the current
understanding of access, capacity and coordination
with development actors and interventions under
the SERRP umbrella. To avoid funding duplication
of similar activities under HRP and SERRP, a strict
distinction has been made. Thus, Cluster activities
proposed under the HRP are complementary to and
coordinated with those set under the SERRP. In
situations where activities are similar under both
HRP and SERRP, their geographical coverage will
vary with humanitarian programming more focused
on rural areas in 2023. The Food Security Cluster is
primarily targeting conflict-affected persons and host
communities in conflict-affected areas. The cluster
has a clear goal to extend programme coverage into
new hard-to-reach areas in 2023. Even though the HRP
remains national, peri-urban response (e.g. Yangon,
Mandalay) and regions and states with limited impact
of conflict/displacement (e.g. Ayeyarwady, western
Bago) have been transferred under the SERRP where
more resilience-oriented support is planned.
The cluster will strive to provide life-saving food and/
or cash assistance as appropriate, and emergency
agriculture and livelihood support. Hotspots such as
the Northwest, Southeast, and Rakhine, where the
security situation has dramatically deteriorated in
HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023
2022, will constitute a major focus in 2023, although
access is a major challenge in these areas. Specific
attention will be given to Sagaing which currently hosts
the highest number of IDPs.
Protracted displacement, armed conflict, inflation,
and the hike in prices of essential food items, fuel
and agricultural services and inputs (e.g. fertilizers)
have all negatively affected the food production as
indicated by the FAO/WFP Round 4 assessment
which showed a major decline in land being cultivated
and the produce harvested. This is resulting in an
increased use of “emergency and stress” coping
mechanisms. The cluster expects that the most
vulnerable and marginalized people will be particularly
impacted, especially newly displaced people and host/
non-displaced communities.
The cluster will provide emergency food/cash
assistance primarily to displaced and non-displaced
people in conflict and displacement areas, and hard-
to-reach locations. To bridge gaps with development
action under the SERRP, the cluster will also provide
emergency agriculture and livelihood support to target
groups in conflict-affected areas where development
actors are least expected to respond (e.g. the
Northwest). These emergency agriculture actions
are essential to maintaining food availability in the
target areas.
For all activities, the cluster will strive to mainstream
COVID-19 prevention measures, including the provision
of hygiene and personal protective equipment (PPE)
to mitigate against the risk of spread among people
assisted, communities and staff.
Cluster partners will scale-up efforts to access
communities and populations in hard-to-reach
areas controlled by EOAs throughout Myanmar,
acknowledging that securing TAs remains a challenge,
as well as the inherent safety and security concerns
associated with accessing these locations. The cluster
will continue to advocate for safe access and will
work through local or community-based organizations
to provide food assistance, restore and protect
agricultural livelihoods for displaced and the most
vulnerable crisis-affected people, including people
78
with mobility constraints, the elderly, persons with
disabilities and the chronically ill. The cluster will also
target communities affected by natural disasters.
Specific needs of persons with disabilities, the elderly,
women, girls, boys will be considered in the design
and provision of assistance. Where possible, women,
particularly female-headed households, will be
engaged in livelihood opportunities, promoting gender-
transformative and non-household-based activities
through a consultative approach that advocates for
women’s economic empowerment. Pregnant and
lactating women and children under five years of age
will be targeted for assistance in coordination with the
Nutrition Cluster.
The cluster will strive to deliver a significant part
of assistance through CVA where the appropriate
conditions prevail, including safe access to functioning
markets and vendors. Where feasible, digital cash
transfers will be preferred to reduce safety and security
risks and bring further efficiencies. However, this will
depend on the availability of cash and associated
financial services, as well as sufficient protection risk
mitigation measures being in place in connection with
the new KYC regulations for e-cash service providers.
The Food Security Cluster activities will include:
• Food distribution (in-kind and CVA). For acute
emergency situations, particularly in the case of a
natural disaster, high energy biscuits/ready-to-eat
rations will be considered as a first response.
Where feasible, fortified rice will also be included.
• Provision of emergency agricultural inputs, e.g.
seeds, fertilizer, tools, and home gardening/
machinery (in kind/voucher/cash), emergency
support to livestock through animal feed and
health care to restore and protect livestock
productivity.
• Multi-Purpose Cash linked to the Myanmar
Minimum Expenditure Basket (MEB).
• Awareness and technical training on agriculture,
food processing, food safety/hygiene and
conservation.
• Provision of digital and financial literacy training
to enhance understanding and engagement in
HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023

livelihood activities by women and assisted people context in the country and the Food Security Cluster is
more broadly. ensuring strong engagement with their work.
• Support timely and quality food security
assessments and coordination mechanisms. UN Nutrition: The Food Security Cluster began
• Messaging on benefits of nutritious diets. engaging with UNN to strengthen the integration of
• Nutrition messages to complement cash transfers nutrition into food security interventions. The Cluster
as well as agriculture input provision. Coordinator will continue to be part of the UNN
Technical Coordination team for nutrition-sensitive
Integrated programming, multi-sectoral responses food security components. In 2023, the cluster will
and inter-cluster linkages contribute to the implementation of food-based
dietary guidelines for PLW and U-5 children which
Food Security - Nutrition Cluster multi-sectoral
were developed by UNN and its partners as part of
responses: Food assistance will strive to provide
messaging on the benefits of nutrition and optimal
2,100kcal/person/day but also nutritious elements at
practices for achieving nutritional outcomes. By
minimum. This will require a top-up of more nutritious
being part of UNN, the cluster can also request
supplies (fruits, vegetables, fish, etc.), in addition to the
support in collaborating with other relevant sectors,
standard food basket to ensure diversity of nutrients
as the UNN is facilitating nexus work around
for a healthy diet. In coordination with the Nutrition
nutrition. The Food Security Cluster Coordinator
Cluster, through joint monitoring activities, the Food
plans to closely collaborate with the Nutrition Cluster
Security Cluster will ensure the specific needs of key
Coordinator who is co-coordinating the HDN Nutrition
vulnerable groups (e.g. pregnant and lactating women
Coordination platform together with the UNN-REACH
(PLW), children under-5) are considered during food
National Facilitator.
or cash assistance distributions. Specific groups
(the elderly, children under-5, PLWs, persons with
SUN Civil Society Alliance: In 2023, the cluster will
disabilities) may have additional and specific nutrition
work with the SUN CSA to strengthen linkages between
needs that this collaboration will strive to address
food security cluster members and the civil society
during the food assistance.
organizations in nutrition-sensitive programming.
SUN CSA is a catalyst for sustained public, political
Collaboration with the Nutrition Cluster will also
and financial commitments and action to address
support the development and implementation of
malnutrition in Myanmar, enabling a strong and
nutrition-sensitive agriculture and cash programmes.
coordinated civil society constituency to support
This initiative aims at providing guidance to partners
further development and wider implementation of the
supporting agriculture and food security to ensure
nutrition agenda.
their programming contributes to improving assisted
people’s overall nutrition status.
SUN Business Network: In 2023, the cluster will
continue to be an active strategic partner of SBN
Scaling-Up Nutrition (SUN)/ UN Nutrition (UNN)/
to strengthen the connection and linkages between
SUN Civil Society Alliance (SUN CSA)/ SUN Business
Food Security Cluster members and the private
Network (SBN); SUN multi-sectoral and multi-
sector to support better nutrition programming and
stakeholder coordination mechanism for nutrition. In
improvements. SBN aims at improving availability,
Myanmar, non-governmental networks namely UNN,
affordability and accessibility (economic & physical) of
the SUN CSA and SBN remain active. SUN traditionally
safe and nutritious food for everyone, especially those
focuses on development and policy advocacy; however,
vulnerable to nutritional deficiencies, by mobilizing and
these networks in Myanmar are working to strengthen
accelerating business actions for improving nutrition.
Humanitarian-Development Nexus (HDN) for multi-
sectoral nutrition considering the current and emerging
CWG: Continuous engagement with the CWG will
ensure that the MEB is regularly updated and localized.

79
HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023
Education Cluster: School gardening and school
feeding are two activities being implemented under the
SERRP with relevance to both humanitarian clusters
requiring strong coordination. The Food Security
Cluster recommends, when and where possible, to
target the same communities with food assistance
(HRP) and school feeding and school gardening
(SERRP) for greater impact on food security and
mental well-being of the target groups and will work to
provide advice on this across the HDN.
Protection Cluster: To ensure that protection is
mainstreamed in Food Security Cluster interventions,
collaboration with the Protection Cluster and its
AoRs will be strengthened throughout 2023. A better
understanding of data privacy and data protection
will be promoted across all food security partners
and activities, and the importance of PSEA will be
emphasized. Food security partners will collect sex,
age, and disability disaggregated data and promote
80
women’s participation in programming decisions and
modality for food assistance.
The cluster is aware that food or cash distributions
may unintentionally contribute to GBV, and will
continue to incorporate preventative measures,
as well as promoting awareness on gender issues
to mitigate against the risk of GBV and support
gender transformative outcomes through food or
cash assistance.
The Food Security Cluster will emphasize the need to
integrate a comprehensive protection risk analysis at
early stages of any project's implementation to ensure
that the assistance is provided in the most appropriate
and safest way (Do No Harm). A guidance for better
integration of Protection in food security activities
is being developed collaboratively by both the Food
Security and Protection clusters.
HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023
Mine Action AoR: Rural communities are seriously
affected by landmines and other UXO which is
depriving them of the use of their lands (especially for
farming). With the escalation of the conflict across the
country, all States/regions are now affected by UXO,
reducing access to land. UXO has a long-term impact
on food production and food security as clearance is a
complex and sensitive activity that is heavily controlled
by the military and other armed groups. In the absence
of widescale clearance work in Myanmar, in 2023,
the Food Security Cluster will continue to collaborate
with the Mine Action AoR on prevention by organizing
Explosive Ordnance Risk Education (EORE) training for
food security partners. In coordination with the Mine
Action AoR, the Food Security Cluster will explore the
capacity to enhance mapping of EO in agricultural
areas. In affected areas, food security partners will
adjust their food assistance, CVA, agriculture and
livelihood intervention methodology to support people
and their communities in a manner that guarantees
their safety.
Shelter/NFI/CCCM Cluster: In 2023, the Food Security
Cluster will collaborate with the Shelter/NFI/CCCM
Cluster to follow up on displacement movements and
to provide guidance to cluster partners on trends and
needs. The Food Security Cluster will also work with
the Shelter/NFI/CCCM Cluster on coordination of food
assistance to ensure that necessary cooking utensils
and energy/fuel are provided. Coordination will also
focus on ensuring appropriate use of the assistance by
people who are supported.
Collaboration on information: The Myanmar
Information Management Unit (MIMU) is an important
partner for the Food Security Cluster, especially in
providing all necessary maps and location codes,
enabling the cluster ’s 5Ws, gap analysis and partner
presence maps across the HDN. MIMU is also a great
resource for the cluster to access information, reports
and data sets used to increase its understanding
of the food security dynamics and trends across
Myanmar. The MIMU website is also an important
platform for the dissemination of Cluster products to
ensure greater visibility. In 2023, Food Security Cluster
will continue to support the Myanmar Information
Management Working Group (MIMWG) led by MIMU.
81
Cluster collaboration will include technical support
to the OCHA-led humanitarian IMWG to strengthen
IMOs’ capacities in producing documents and other
information products such as maps.
Cost of the response
The Food Security Cluster’s funding requirement for
2023 is $192 million. This amount covers emergency
food assistance, emergency agriculture/livelihoods,
inflation, and protection mainstreaming costs. The
cost-per-person for 2023 across both the food and
agriculture components combined is $91 compared
to $70 last year as a result of inflation and the
added cost-burden of reaching conflict areas. The
cluster’s cost calculation integrates an expectation of
continuing inflation. WFP’s September 2022 market
monitoring68 indicates that the average food basket
has increased by 64 per cent since September 2021.
For food assistance, the standard ration for monthly
in-kind assistance will consist of 13.5 kg of rice, 1.8
kg of pulses, 0.9 kg of oil and 0.15 kg of salt in line
with the Sphere standard daily requirement of 2,100
kilocalories/person/day. The cluster plans to go above
the Sphere standard by providing additional top-up to
ensure access to nutritious and healthy diets (fruits,
vegetables, fish etc.).
The price of cooking oil and mixed oil, both key
components of the standard food basket, have
respectively increased by 137 per cent and 127 per
cent, rice by 53 per cent, chickpeas by 46 per cent
and salt by 44 per cent from September 2021. As
inflation has affected the various states and regions
of Myanmar unevenly, costing for similar interventions
varies from one place to another, even sometimes
within the same state or region.
Cash-based assistance will be scaled-up where
appropriate, considering access to functioning
markets, security concerns, and beneficiary
preferences. Cash entitlements will be determined
based on the local market price of the standard food
basket, inflation rates and transportation costs. The
cluster continues to explore the expansion of digital
transfers to reduce the risks associated with the
delivery of cash, and to simplify delivery mechanisms,
HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023
although this is more complicated in the current
context. In-kind assistance will continue where
conditions are not conducive for cash transfers or
based on affected people’s preference.
Agriculture/livelihood interventions aim to restore,
maintain and increase food production, and assist
smallholder farmers, local fishing communities and
livestock owners in acute need where development
actors are less likely to intervene. This support
will be provided via in-kind and cash and voucher
programming. Implementation costs may vary
depending on the type of intervention and on the
state or region.
The cluster has used an overall inflation rate of 40 per
cent in calculating the cost of response (similar to the
2022 HRP). Inflation accounts for $53 million out of
the $192 million financial requirement for the cluster
in 2023. Considering that some activities/items and
regions and states are not affected in the same way
by inflation, the cluster made efforts to calculate the
impact in a meaningful way. Therefore, the inflation
component of the cluster’s costing is based on an
estimate of the average impact of inflation throughout
all activities provided by the cluster, and in the different
states or regions of intervention.
The cluster has factored in 5 per cent of the financial
requirement for protection mainstreaming. This
represents $6.6 million out of $192 million. The cluster
will work with its partners to integrate 5 per cent of
funds for protection mainstreaming in their strategies
and programming. Considering the scale of the action
planned for 2023 (2.1M people targeted for support)
and $186 million for food security activities (cost
of implementation plus inflation), the cluster has
estimated that an additional 5 per cent ($6.6 million)
is required to fully cover protection mainstreaming
activities, taking total requirements to $192m.
Monitoring
A participatory monitoring approach will be
implemented in close collaboration with local
communities engaged in food security activities. For
an effective response, it is essential to have a clear
understanding of the magnitude and severity of food
82
insecurity, combined with an analysis of immediate
and underlying causes and the impact of interventions.
The connection between food security analysis and
response will be enhanced through the expansion
of existing food security monitoring and information
management systems, and by strengthening links with
response analysis at the state and township levels.
The cluster will collect data from partners using its
5W database, which will allow a close understanding
of existing assistance and response gaps. Standard
monitoring activities under the cluster include regular
food distribution monitoring, on-site monitoring
for cash-for-work, and post distribution monitoring
(PDMs). Food security programme implementation is
monitored through gender and age disaggregated data
collected regularly by cluster partners (when possible).
Cluster monitoring ensures that the intended
beneficiaries receive their full entitlements and support,
and highlights issues of concern to be addressed
through course corrections. Monitoring also typically
includes the gathering of data on food utilization and
the level of satisfaction with the assistance received.
In collaboration with WFP and the Protection Cluster,
the Food Security Cluster will work to organize training
on community engagement mechanisms (CEM).
CEM, through feedback and community discussion,
supports the participation of all affected populations
in decisions about assistance. It is used to receive and
process concerns, respond to them, and to ensure that
the cluster is accountable to those it is supporting,
while being responsive to community feedback
and requests for greater transparency, two-way
communication, information-provision and community
participation.
Capacity, gaps and limitations
The cluster acknowledges the large gap between
the number of people in need of humanitarian
assistance (15.2 million people) and current target
(2.1 million people) which is a result of soaring needs
and demands for heavy prioritization in a constraint
funding and access environment. The status of access
and capacity of Cluster partners will remain under
continuous review with a view to expanding targets
if plausible later in the year. The cluster will prioritize
HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023
support to those moderately food insecure populations
who are most at risk of slipping into severe food
insecurity. However, the available data and information
in Myanmar is impeding more in-depth analysis of the
geographical spread of the most vulnerable persons at
township level.
The banking crisis and limited cash availability may
impact on the ability of cluster partners to deliver
planned assistance to people in need. In such
situations, the cluster partners may have to provide
the assistance in-kind. Importing some goods may be
slower than usual as customs processes are now more
complex. Inflation and exchange rates may also have
negative impacts on the cost of activities in 2023 and
will need to be closely monitored throughout the year.
Targets and costs may need to be revised if operational
costs increase.
While liquidity is less of an issue than it was in
2021/2022, concerns remain. The recent tightening of
KYC regulations for cash transfers has implications for
certain cash assistance mechanisms, notably mobile
money. Agencies will have to assess their level of risk
appetite to engage with the variety of protection and
security risks this will likely entail.
Banking restrictions due to expired or pending
registration and MOUs could limit the ability of partners
to access the cash needed for distributions. Funding
constraints and an artificially low official exchange rate
will make it difficult for partners to raise cash transfer
values at the rate of inflation.
The cluster has its national coordination group
in Yangon (with dedicated human resources:
1 coordinator, 1 co-coordinator, 1 information
management officer/IMO) and 3 sub-national
coordination hubs in Rakhine, Kachin, and northern
Shan. New areas (e.g. Northwest, Southeast) have
been placed under the national Food Security Cluster
until additional resources are available to strengthen
coordination at the field level as envisaged under
the new fit-for-purpose coordination architecture. In
2023, the Food Security Cluster plans to strengthen its
presence in the northwest and southeast of Myanmar
where the conflict has significantly escalated and
83
where humanitarian needs have steeply increased. The
cluster is currently comprised of 42 NNGOs, 26 INGOs,
and 4 UN agencies whose collective presence and
operational capacity nationwide allows them to reach
communities targeted for assistance when the right
access conditions prevail, but this access varies and is
not consistent from month to month.
In 2021, the Food Security Cluster reinforced
its structure with an IMO position and an INGO
co-coordinator elected for two years. In 2022, the
Food Security Cluster has strengthened its capacity
by adding a master IMO seconded by iMMAP. To
go further and provide more in-depth food security
analysis, the cluster is also looking to add a food
security analyst to its team in 2023.
In 2022, the Food Security Cluster response
was heavily centered around food assistance to
non-displaced but vulnerable communities (peri-urban
response) while support to agriculture/livelihoods was
quite limited due to funding and access constraints.
This geographical emphasis will shift in 2023 with
heavier weighting towards conflict-affected rural areas
in the response. It also remains crucial for partners
to support agriculture/livelihoods activities, at least
during the main agricultural season to ensure that food
remains available in areas targeted for assistance
and to make the cluster response impactful for
beneficiaries and their communities.
Links to development programming
In 2023, the Food Security Cluster will continue to
strengthen its connections with development actors
and other non-emergency actors with the objective of
better analyzing the evolution and trends in the food
security situation in Myanmar and designing the most
suitable food security response, including nutrition-
sensitive agriculture.
The cluster will collaborate more closely with the
Agriculture and Rural Development Coordination
workstream which sits in the INGO forum, IFPRI and
the private sector (traders in seeds, cereals, machinery,
etc.), including the Myanmar Rice Federation, to gather
information from a more diverse group of partners to
develop enhanced food security analysis.
HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023

In 2023, the cluster will focus on emergency response
with a limited overlap with the SERRP. Peri-urban
response and the vast majority of the agriculture/
livelihood activities will be solely implemented under
the SERRP. Agriculture and livelihood activities under
the HRP that also appear under SERRP will target
the most conflict-affected areas, where development
actors are less likely to intervene, removing
any duplication.
The cluster will work to achieve greater collaboration
between emergency and development actors to
ensure that recipients of food/cash assistance are
also receiving support for agriculture, livelihoods and
school feeding with the goal of building communities’
resilience under the SERRP.

KAYAH
An eldery IDP couple enjoying lunch together at their current home in Kayah,
2022. Credit: WFP

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HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023
3.6
Health
PEOPLE IN NEED PEOPLE TARGETED
10M 2.3M 52%
REQUIREMENTS (US$) COST-PER-PERSON (US$)
106M 46
Cluster objectives
The Health Cluster works to reduce and prevent
suffering, morbidity, and mortality of crisis-affected,
displaced, returned and stateless people who are
experiencing or are at risk of health threats across the
three following cluster objectives:
CO1- Reduce and prevent suffering, morbidity
and mortality through the timely detection of and
coordinated response to 100 per cent of notifications
for outbreaks for epidemic-prone diseases, such as
malaria, diarrhea, acute respiratory infections, and
vaccine-preventable illnesses.
CO2- Improve availability and accessibility of primary
health services, among 403,036 displaced, 28,959
returned, 36,149 stateless and 1,824,267 crisis-
affected people, through basic and complementary
packages including maternal, child and adolescent
health, sexual and reproductive health, MHPSS, health-
related GBV services, illnesses such as tuberculosis
(TB) and HIV, disability, emergency health for surgical
care, trauma, and referrals.
CO3- Strengthen the capacity of 43 health partners
on accurate and timely data collection and reporting
for displaced, returned, stateless and crisis-affected
people, disaggregated by age, sex, and disabilities, to
inform decision-making.
85
WOMEN AND GIRLS CHILDREN (0 - 18) WITH DISABILITIES
33% 13%
PARTNERS
72
Response
The number of people targeted for humanitarian health
assistance in 2023 is set at 2.3 million (representing
23 per cent of all people in need), prioritizing the four
most affected and vulnerable population groups:
displaced, returned, stateless and other crisis-affected
people, similar to the 2022 response strategy, although
targets are substantially more ambitious. Two criteria
were used to prioritize those people to receive
humanitarian assistance.
First, a geographical lens was applied with rural and
remote locations affected by conflict prioritized where
people are most vulnerable and health systems are
most limited (see the table below). Considering that
the provision of essential health care services in
the public sector has resumed to a certain extent in
larger cities compared to the early days of the military
takeover, populations in some urban areas specifically
Nay Pyi Taw, Yangon, and Mandalay have been left out
of the target for humanitarian response in 2023 but will
continue to be supported under SERRP programming.
Secondly, a capacity filter was applied. The cluster
looked at the capacity of partners to access people in
need, using realistic funding projections and analysis
of opportunities for scale-up of timely, predictable,
appropriate, and effective response. Health Cluster
partners are facing multiple bureaucratic challenges
including the delays in obtaining visas for international
HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023
staff, directly impeding the scale-up of humanitarian
assistance. Access to people in need is further limited
by the restrictive TA process, and safety and security
issues that include roadblocks, attacks on health
LOCATION DISPLACED
Rural 80%
Urban (excluding Nay Pyi Taw, Yangon and Mandalay) 50%
Nay Pyi Taw, Yangon and Mandalay 0%
The Health Cluster will thus continue responding
collectively to humanitarian emergencies to improve
health outcomes of displaced, returned, stateless
and other crisis-affected people in Myanmar,
through timely, predictable, appropriate and effective
coordinated health action
• The cluster is acting across all six core functions
supporting service delivery, assessing and
providing public health information, planning and
establishing a health response strategy, monitoring
and evaluating health response and building
capacity and advocating for better outcomes.
• The cluster partners will be collectively working
on establishing and strengthening alternative
care, filling the gaps for access to primary health
services among displaced, returned, stateless
and crisis-affected people, while continuing to
advocate for effective, safe and people-centered
health care across the public sector.
• It is estimated that 240 clinics are required to
fill current gaps nationwide: 150 are already
established, leaving a gap of 90 clinics (mobiles
and fixed) to implement basic and complementary
packages for access to primary health services in
communities. Kayah in the Southeast (30), Rakhine
(20), Shan (14) and Sagaing in the Northwest
(14) are most in need of clinics for primary
health services.
• Primary health services will provide a basic
package including maternal, child and adolescent
86
facilities, and increased use of landmines and other
explosive devices posing serious risks for health staff
and operations.
OTHER CRISIS-
RETURNED STATELESS
AFFECTED
30% 40% 25%
20% 25% 15%
0% 0% 0%
care, sexual and reproductive health, mental health
and psychosocial services, GBV services, and
a complementary package for TB, HIV, surgery
and trauma care, rehabilitation and assistive
device provision, and referrals. Other health
actions shall include filling routine vaccination
gaps for children under-5 years, timely detection
and coordinated response to notifications of
outbreaks for epidemic-prone diseases, continued
coordinated response to COVID-19, and training
and capacity building for health partners in the
humanitarian response.
• Considering the severely constrained and
fragmented health-care system, continued attacks
on health facilities, and limited skilled workforce
in the health system, coordinated actions by
cluster partners will continue to be consolidated
at national and sub-national levels for appropriate
referrals and support to provide primary health
services with a better continuum of care.
• The Health Cluster will use innovative approaches
to open up and scale-up access to primary health
services to communities and affected people,
such as self-care interventions, task sharing,
telemedicine.
• The Health Cluster will continue engaging
meaningfully and effectively with local health
implementing partners as part of its localization
strategy, to facilitate better access to quality care.
• The Health Cluster will continue to expand the use
of CVA modalities for service delivery strategies
HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023
in 2023, for better health outcomes. The CVA
experience so far has been focused on access
to secondary care such as supporting transport,
meals and accommodation for patients and
companions and strategic purchasing of services
for COVID-19. The cluster is exploring further
opportunities to overcome access limitations for
affected people.
Integrated programming, multi-sectoral responses
and inter-cluster linkages
• The Health Cluster will actively collaborate
across clusters to advocate for safe access and
service delivery to crisis-affected people and for
multi-sectoral project implementation to improve
collective outcomes.
• The Health Cluster will continue to leverage all
available channels across clusters for actions,
including supporting other clusters’ efforts through
technical guidance, provision of supplies and
logistics, and conducting joint risk communication
and community engagement activities.
• Coordinated health actions will be taken jointly
with the Protection Cluster to ensure meaningful
protection outcomes including timely, predictable,
appropriate, and effective psychological first aid
and other mental health and psychosocial services
and GBV clinical care and prevention.
• Coordinated health actions will be strengthened
jointly with the Protection Cluster to ensure
emergency care and rehabilitation support
to victims of landmines, explosive ordnance,
ERW, and IEDs.
Cost of the response
The unit-based costing was used to estimate the
cost of the cluster response for 2023. The costs are
estimated across the key activities by using averages
of previous humanitarian health project costs and
global health data in consultation with the partners.
The inflation rate was also considered in estimating
the costs. An average of 25 per cent inflation was
factored into each activity. Considerations for basic
and complementary packages of primary health care,
filling vaccination gaps, disease outbreaks response
87
and COVID-19 mainstreaming costing were also
incorporated.
Despite these additional expenses being factored in,
the Health Cluster’s cost-per-person in 2023 is $46,
down from $56 in 2022 as a result of a significant
reduction in COVID-related activities in view of the
expected reduced risk of COVID in 2023. The cluster
also integrated psychosocial care into the primary
health basic services package to avoid overlap
between people being assisted, as well as a focus of
rehabilitation trauma support activities to physical
disability only.
Monitoring
• The sources for monitoring the progress of the
Health Cluster response include, but are not limited
to, individual partner reports, common reporting
forms and online reports, disaggregated by age,
sex and disabilities, for the population groups
(displaced, returned, stateless and other crisis-
affected people), and the early warning, alert and
response system (EWARS).
• The Health Cluster will continue engaging with
existing coordination platforms to promote inter-
sectoral monitoring.
• Regular Health Cluster meetings, at national
and sub-national levels, will be utilized to inform
cluster members on reporting requirements and
to advocate for and support the collection and
reporting of disaggregated data, by age, sex and
disabilities, for the population groups.
• Specifically, the cluster will organize training
for health partners in accurate and timely data
collection and reporting for displaced, returned,
stateless and crisis-affected people, disaggregated
by age, sex, and disabilities, to inform
decision making.
• Number of people receiving primary health
services will be compiled, disaggregated by age,
sex and disabilities, for each of the population
groups, to the extent possible, through individual
partner reports and online reporting forms, and
reported according to the HRP monitoring cycle.
• Verified EWARS notifications will also be compiled
through the EWARS database and also reported
according to the HRP monitoring cycle. Both
HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023
indicators (i.e. number of people receiving
primary health services and the verified EWARS
notifications) aim at reporting Health Cluster
performance on the number of people in need
that have been reached and number of EWARS
notifications which have been verified for outbreak
surveillance and timely and effective response.
Capacity, gaps and limitations
• The delivery of health services, especially
complementary packages for primary health care,
and life-saving care for trauma, requires a skilled
workforce and appropriate equipment, supplies,
infrastructure and funding – which were all
challenging throughout 2022.
• Health Cluster partners are facing challenges in
deploying additional international personnel to the
country to scale-up humanitarian assistance, due
to bureaucratic challenges in securing visas.
• Access to populations in need is further limited
by the restrictive TA processes, and safety and
security issues that include roadblocks, attacks
on health care facilities, and increased use of
landmines and other explosive devices.
• On the other hand, people are still reluctant
to seek care from the public health services
and are struggling to access to alternatives,
such as private care with higher out-of-pocket
costs in the economic downturn, exacerbating
pre-existing imbalances.
• Accurate and timely health information to guide
operational planning and response is severely
limited since the military takeover.
88
• Existing partner capacity and expertise along with
the MSNA outcomes informed the calculation of
the PiN and target numbers. The new HRP target
areas benefit from more developed public, private
and EHO service delivery. However, access is
projected to be more challenging in 2023. The
cluster targets were discussed and agreed among
cluster members at national and sub-national
levels based on realistic capacity, funding, and
access trends with a commitment to continue to
explore the possibilities of further scale-up where
and when feasible.
Links to development programming
• The Health Cluster has been engaging with
development partners throughout 2022 by
expanding the coverage of Health Cluster meetings
to enable information sharing across the nexus.
The cluster will continue the engagement with
development partners in all relevant thematic areas
including COVID-19 coordination forums.
• Most of COVID-19 activities related to capacity
building, vaccination, diagnosis, surveillance, case
management, formation and communication
across Myanmar will be supported by development
partners, while the humanitarian cluster is focusing
on essential health services in fragile, underserved,
conflict-affected areas by mainstreaming
COVID-19 activities.
• Most of the vaccination campaigns through the
Extended Programme for Immunization across
Myanmar will be supported by development
partners while the cluster is filling gaps in crisis-
affected areas.
HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023
3.7
Nutrition
PEOPLE IN NEED PEOPLE TARGETED
2.2M 590K
REQUIREMENTS (US$) COST-PER-PERSON (US$)
48M 81
Cluster objectives
The Nutrition Cluster objectives aim to reduce and
prevent suffering, morbidity, and mortality among
internally displaced, returned, stateless and other
crisis-affected people experiencing or at risk of
malnutrition, food security and related health gaps
across Myanmar.
CO1: The Nutrition Cluster intends to support some
72,264 vulnerable children (boys and girls) including
IDPs, returnees, stateless and other vulnerable and
crisis-affected children with acute malnutrition to
access equitable and inclusive life-saving treatment
and management services.
CO2: A total of 26,686 pregnant and lactating women
(PLW) comprising IDPs, returnees, stateless and
other crisis-affected people with acute malnutrition to
access equitable and inclusive life-saving treatment
and management services.
CO3: To respond with life-saving and preventative
interventions among the 590,263 people targeted
for assistance while mainstreaming protection
by ensuring that protection risks are monitored,
identified, mitigated and addressed for those targeted
for support; upholding the centrality of protection;
and promoting respect for human rights and
humanitarian principles.
89
WOMEN AND GIRLS CHILDREN (0 - 18) WITH DISABILITIES
71% 57% 13%
PARTNERS
35
CO4: To provide preventative nutrition support
through infant and young child feeding, micronutrient
supplementation and blanket supplementary feeding
targeting children under five years and their caregivers.
CO5: To provide preventative nutrition support for PLW
through infant and young child feeding counseling,
micronutrient powders supplementation and blanket
supplementary feeding for those being supported.
Response
The Nutrition Cluster aims to reach a target of 590,263
people from a total of 2.2 million people in need. This
includes reaching 338,375 children under five and
251,887 PLW at a combined cost of $48 million. In
the absence of quality, national-level nutrition data,
a proxy severity classification from the food security
assessment was used to calculate the Nutrition
Cluster PiN and targets. The populations targeted
for assistance consist of IDPs, returnees, stateless
and other vulnerable crisis-affected children with
acute malnutrition amid deteriorating humanitarian
conditions across the country following the escalation
of conflict including attacks and clashes.
The 2023 Nutrition Cluster PiN calculation was done
using the Nutrition Humanitarian Needs Analysis
calculation tool from the Global Nutrition Cluster. A
reference baseline population from the food security
assessment of 15.2 million was used as a proxy. Based
HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023
on this methodology, and considering the most recent,
available, and representative assessments, including
contributing factors and severity analysis in Myanmar
a PiN of 2.2 million was estimated. The Nutrition
Cluster has then targeted 80 per cent of the IDPs,
returnees, stateless people, and about 20 per cent of
other crisis-affected people for support, with a heavier
focus placed on emergency treatments and response.
This is in line with the wider strategic approach of
the HRP with heavier prioritization in targeting based
on the most vulnerable groups and locations, as well
as realistic expectations of funding, access, capacity
etc. The Nutrition Cluster has reduced targeting
(especially for preventative/resilience assistance) in
peri-urban areas of Yangon and other states or regions
less impacted by conflict such as Ayeyarwady and
western Bago.
The geographical focus of the response has been
designed based on the severity classification from the
food security assessment which found eight states
and regions - Ayeyarwady, Bago, Kachin, Mandalay,
Mon, Shan, Tanintharyi, and Yangon had “stress” levels
of food insecurity. The other states and regions were
classified either as “severe” (Magway and Sagaing) or
“extreme” (Chin, Kayah, Kayin and Rakhine) and were
considered priority areas for the response.
The humanitarian crisis in Myanmar has been
exacerbated by pre-existing vulnerabilities in the
country after the devastating effects of the COVID-19
pandemic, higher poverty rates, soaring inflation and
interruption to livelihoods and markets for food and
related commodities. These vulnerabilities have been
worsened by the Ukraine crisis that has increased
global food and fuel prices, affecting several countries
including Myanmar.
Sectoral modalities of response delivery to children
under-five and PLW will prioritize life-saving therapeutic
foods, preventative rations of nutritious food and
micronutrients based on needs assessments and other
considerations. The Nutrition Cluster will work with
the CWG and the Food Security Cluster to determine
the best response modalities, including CVA or in-kind
support that will include admission into malnutrition
stabilization and treatment programmes.
90
Continued and expanded engagement with CSO will
be pursued to focus on possible alternative response
modalities to meet urgent humanitarian needs.
These approaches will be happening in tandem with
humanitarian-wide approaches to localization through
improving access to funding for NNGOs and CSOs.
Integrated programming, multi-sectoral responses
and inter-cluster linkages
The Nutrition Cluster will facilitate integrated
programming through participating in and promoting
joint programme response through the SUN, UNN, SUN
CSA, SBN, SUN multi-sectoral and multi-stakeholder
coordination mechanism for nutrition and closely
working with the Food Security Cluster and other
clusters. Additionally, joint resourcing among partners
will be adopted as a strategy to meet resource gaps.
Expanded participation in inter-cluster coordination
meetings at national and sub-national level will be
part of the collaborative efforts to improve cluster
outcomes. At programme level, and in compliance
with strategic objectives of the pooled funds and other
emergency funding streams, the Nutrition Cluster
will support and encourage cross-sectoral response
modalities including co-locating interventions to
meet the multi-dimensional needs of IDPs, returnees,
stateless and other crisis-affected people.
At programme level, the entire response will
mainstream protection as part of the response
approaches through joint programme sessions,
referrals of protection cases identified during Nutrition
Cluster activities and, where possible, joint resource
mobilization. EORE will be mainstreamed across the
cluster activities, platforms and facilities offering
nutrition responses such as treatment of children
with severe acute malnutrition (SAM) and the various
supplementary feeding programmes.
Cost of the response
Standard unit-based cost-per-person was applied for
Myanmar with adjustment made for the target and
economies of scale in order to establish realistic
costs. To this end, the average cost of response per
person was determined as follows: screening ($12),
SAM treatment ($188), MAM treatment ($52), blanket
supplementary feeding programme (BSFP) for under-
HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023
fives ($61), BSFP for PLW ($82), Infant and young child
feeding (IYCF) counseling ($5), micronutrient powder
(MNP) for under-fives ($10) and multiple micronutrient
supplementation for PLW ($10). Overall the cost-
per-person for the cluster in 2023 is $81, up from
$60 last year.
Inflation trends were considered in the costing of the
commodities. However, it was noted that the impact of
inflation on Nutrition items was more limited than other
clusters because most of the commodities required for
response are imported and therefore insulated from
the inflationary pressures in the country. Nevertheless,
transportation costs in-country that are subject to
local costing structures and prone to inflation were
considered. The inflation was therefore pegged at a
nominal figure of 2 per cent (or $0.9 million) of the
total costs for the Nutrition Cluster activities for 2023.
Protection mainstreaming was also factored into the
costing for the Nutrition Cluster response in 2023. To
this end, a 7 per cent protection mainstreaming cost
was included in the final Cluster requirements adding
$3 million , bringing the total cost to $48 million
including the inflation calculation.
Monitoring
The Nutrition Cluster has a robust data collection,
reporting and monitoring system although its national
reach is patchy. The Global Nutrition Cluster-approved
tools will be used for data collection and reporting
from the sub-national level. The sub-national focal
points are responsible for the consolidation of
response data from partners and reporting is done
monthly. The information management team compiles
the reported data, and conducts cleaning and
analysis to produce dashboards, graphs, and maps to
demonstrate spatial distribution of response activities
and to establish the level of achievements against the
target per activity planned.
Validation of data is undertaken by the Information
Management Officer, working closely with reporting
officers from partners through verification of reported
electronic data against physical copies of the data.
After validation, the reported data is consolidated,
analyzed and reshared to ensure consistency before
91
final dissemination in compliance with the ICCG’s
Information Sharing Protocol.
Monitoring the impact of the response across all
activities is also done through surveys by other cluster,
with some results used as proxy indicators to monitor
the unfolding nutrition situation on the ground. The
Nutrition Cluster is expanding taking anthropometric
measurements thanks to technical support from the
Global Nutrition Cluster to monitor nutritional status
across various locations in the country. Regular
capacity building workshops will be provided to
partners in the proper use of reporting tools to ensure
consistent and accurate reporting.
Capacity, gaps and limitations
The Nutrition Cluster is facing major gaps in the areas
of funding, capacity building of partners to respond
to nutritional needs, current and representative
assessments, and staffing gaps at various levels of
the response. The Nutrition Cluster response is also
impeded by access challenges due to the current
operating environment and the limited presence of
partners and staff in hard-to-reach areas hosting IDPs
and other conflict-affected people.
The funding shortfalls in 2022 affected the reach
and quality of services to children and women who
desperately needed emergency nutrition assistance
with flow-on impacts for needs into 2023. This
underfunding trend was taken into account when
setting the 2023 approach where tighter targeting
is being applied. This means heavier prioritizations
towards those with the most acute and urgent needs
and less focus on prevention, which has meant a
reduction in the cluster ’s target of almost 50 per
cent compared to 2022 despite the deepening and
expanding humanitarian crisis. The funding shortages
in 2022 impacted on the availability and procurement
of vital supplies (including ready-to-use therapeutic
food) at a time when importation of items is already
challenging. It also affected partners’ ability to find
staff for their programmes with the requisite technical
expertise to respond optimally to the mounting needs.
Extended delays or denial of tax exemption certificates
remain a major hindrance to the prompt procurement
HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023

and distribution of vital and life-saving nutrition
supplies across the country. Transportation of supplies
is also partly affected by the funding shortages, and
more by the restrictive environment where TA are
usually delayed or denied.
The Nutrition Cluster also faces huge data gaps
as the last representative assessment was the
2015/2016 Myanmar Demographic Health survey.
This compromises accurate forecasting of needs and
subsequently the appropriate costs of the nutrition
components of the humanitarian response, as the
sector ultimately relies on proxy information from the
food security assessment. Measuring the impacts of
the response is also challenging due to this absence of
representative assessment.
areas and focusing on different populations in less
severe need, thus complementing efforts towards
meeting overall needs.
Priority complementary activities with development
actors will include development responses like food-
based dietary guideline messaging and cooking
demonstrations, livelihoods support, capacity building
in skills development for IDPs and returnees in
the Northeast, Rakhine, Northwest and Southeast.
Closer coordination between the above-mentioned
development support activities with other interventions
from the Food Security, Health, and Protection
Clusters would allow to focus on families previously
identified as needing nutritional support among other
targeting criteria.

Links to development programming

The Nutrition Cluster has a consolidated coordination
architecture which includes development actors
working across the broader nutrition sector,
enabling regular engagement with the partners
through meetings, capacity building activities, joint
programming and advocacy activities. The preventative
programmes in the 2023 response, such as IYCF and
micronutrient support, will partly be implemented by
the development actors, but in different geographical

92
HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023
3.8
Protection
PEOPLE IN NEED PEOPLE TARGETED
11.5M 2.1M
REQUIREMENTS (US$) COST-PER-PERSON (US$)
124M 59
Cluster objectives
In 2023, the Protection Cluster’s overarching goal is to
improve the realization of rights and safety and dignity
of living conditions for people with humanitarian needs
across Myanmar. The Protection Cluster will focus
on a range of protection responses and advocacy
through dedicated monitoring as well as trend analysis,
to enhance preparedness and identify people with
specific protection risks and needs. The cluster will
also seek to reach the most vulnerable with life-saving
and emergency protection prevention and response
activities that build their resilience and reduce the
adoption of negative coping mechanisms. Below are
the objectives for the Protection Cluster:
CO1: Protection of people affected by crisis is
improved through provision of individually-targeted
life-saving assistance and multi-sectoral, age-specific,
gender-appropriate and inclusive protection, GBV, Mine
Action, child protection, and MHPSS, responses to
meet protection needs and reduce the risk of resorting
to negative coping mechanisms.
CO2: Communities are engaged, empowered, and
supported to prevent, mitigate and respond to
protection risks and needs with acknowledgement of
community capacity, promotion of positive individual
and community risk-reduction strategies, and support
for social cohesion.
93
WOMEN AND GIRLS CHILDREN (0 - 18) WITH DISABILITIES
52% 34% 13%
PARTNERS
77
CO3: Promotion of and respect for international
humanitarian and human rights laws and humanitarian
principles is enhanced through protection monitoring,
analysis of risks and advocacy with all relevant
stakeholders.
CO4: Capabilities to prevent, mitigate and respond
to protection risks and needs are strengthened by
building technical capacity and community awareness
of stakeholders on priority protection topics, as well
as mainstreaming and integration of protection, GBV,
Mine Action, child protection, and MHPSS support in all
humanitarian actions.
Response
In 2023, the Protection Cluster and its AoRs plan
to reach 2.1 million people by implementing a
comprehensive set of activities at aim to improve
people’s access to rights, safety and dignity. A key
priority of the Protection Cluster and partners is to
ensure that all IDPs, non-displaced stateless people,
returned, locally integrated or resettled IDPs and the
other crisis-affected people with humanitarian needs
have inclusive, equitable and unhindered access
to emergency, essential, and life-saving protection
services tailored to their needs or risks. Priority is
given to locations where the protection environment
continues to deteriorate due to armed conflict and
violence, as well as townships hosting the highest
number of IDPs. Geographical prioritization for
HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023
protection activities is primarily based on the severity
of the protection context at the township level. Among
the other crisis-affected people with humanitarian
needs, priority will be given in the locations where
conflict intensity is high, or communities hosting
IDPs. Specific consideration will be given to the
following profiles:
• People living close to armed conflict areas or
people exposed to specific protection risks due to
armed conflict
• Families impacted by the destruction of houses or
household items during the conflict
• People at heightened risk of abduction, GBV,
arbitrary arrest, forced recruitment, human
trafficking and forced labour
• Returning and mobile populations at risk of
landmines and unexploded ordinance
This will be achieved through the identification
of individuals or households in need of protection
response and/or multi-sectoral referral; expanding
safe delivery of integrated protection services;
enhancing risk-informed, evidence-based, gender
and age-specific, disability inclusive and contextually
appropriate interventions; strengthening protection
mainstreaming and integration (including GBV, CP
and MA) across all clusters; providing targeted or
specialized protection support to persons with specific
needs/risks; and strengthening response capacity
for partners including local actors. Based on people’s
preferences and the feasibility and appropriateness of
the modality, protection partners will provide targeted
responses either through cash or in-kind support, as
well as through inter-sectoral referrals.
The Protection Cluster, including CP AoR and GBV AoR,
will prioritize the strengthening of community-based
and led protection responses, as well as community
awareness activities on rights of the people. This
is in recognition of the importance of empowering
communities in the identification, prevention,
mitigation and response to protection risks and
enhancing communities’ capacity to implement their
self-protection mechanisms. Reducing vulnerabilities
and improving the mental and physical well-being
of affected people will remain a key priority. Risks
94
of sexual exploitation and abuse will be mitigated
through appropriate strategies and needed support
will be provided for the victims of sexual exploitation
and abuse. Child protection risks will continue to be
identified and appropriate measures implemented
to mitigate risks and improve the well-being of
children. Social cohesion and peaceful co-existence
activities will be supported. Support will be provided
for community empowerment and leadership
development, targeting marginalized or under-
represented groups, including women, older persons,
persons with diverse sexual orientation and gender
identities, people belonging to different ethnic groups,
persons with disabilities, people needed MHPSS,
adolescents, children, and young people. There will
also be attention to strengthening the prevention and
response to human trafficking risks including through
targeted support, community-based measures and
mainstreaming.
Efforts will continue to operationalize the Centrality
of Protection in humanitarian programming including
through protection monitoring with the different
clusters and humanitarian actors. The Protection
Cluster, together with the CP AoR and GBV AoR,
and partners will continue to strengthen protection
monitoring to safely collect and verify information
to analyze protection trends, identify violations of
rights and protection risks faced by IDPs, returnees,
non-displaced stateless people and crisis-affected
communities as a priority. Further analysis will focus
on the most vulnerable people among crisis-affected
populations including understanding the most
affected areas and locations of incidents with the
aim of reducing exposure to and mitigating against
the devastating effects of such violence and risks.
Findings from protection monitoring will be used for
evidence-based advocacy at different levels to call
for respect for international humanitarian and human
rights law by all parties to the conflict as well as
addressing the immediate structural causes, the need
for resource mobilization, and guiding the prioritization
of humanitarian interventions.
Social discrimination and gaps in Myanmar’s legal and
policy framework hinder the quality of protection and
access to services for GBV survivors, persons with
HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023
disabilities, persons with diverse sexual orientation
and gender identities, and people belonging to different
ethnic groups, unaccompanied and separated children,
stateless people, female-headed households and
child-headed households. The cluster and partners will
identify them and provide responses, as appropriate,
through targeted or specialized support.
The Protection Cluster will engage with the HCT to
leverage advocacy interventions with key stakeholders
on timely access to urgent and prioritized protection
responses in an inclusive manner. The cluster will
support the implementation of the HCT Protection
Strategy (2022). In all interventions, the cluster and
its AoRs will ensure the inclusion of age, gender,
disability and other diversities while mainstreaming
and integrating protection and gender in all responses.
Additionally, the Protection Cluster will aim at
strengthening respect for international humanitarian
and human rights law, including preventing and
responding to grave violations against children,
accountability, protection of civilians and ensuring that
crisis-affected communities have access to protection
(and other multi-sectoral) services.
Advocacy interventions to address the root and
structural causes of the Rakhine crisis, as per the
Rakhine Advisory Commission recommendations
will remain a priority, including advocacy on freedom
of movement, access to sustainable livelihoods and
basic services and physical and mental well-being of
all people affected by crisis, especially the stateless
Rohingya people. Related advocacy for access to
civil documentation and pathways to citizenship
will continue, given the implications for people’s
political rights, access to livelihoods, education and
other basic services. HLP rights programmes will be
strengthened, including monitoring the legal and policy
development and streamlining of interventions. Gender
will be considered while working on civil and HLP
documentation.
The cluster will continue to support and promote
local partners to access funding through partnerships
that aim to expand and strengthen the ability to reach
the most underserved populations, especially in the
Northwest and Southeast. Specific focus will be
95
placed on supporting local partners to access funding,
enhancing their capacity, and promoting their work
through the cluster. Representation and participation in
cluster initiatives, monitoring and activities by local and
national NGOs will remain a priority.
AAP remains a key priority for the cluster. In 2023,
Protection partners will focus on mainstreaming
and institutionalizing collective AAP by establishing
common service platforms. AAP mechanisms
will be analyzed and barriers for women, children
and other vulnerable groups will be removed. This
entails enhancing overall complaints and feedback
mechanisms including through closing the feedback
loop in an efficient and inclusive manner. The role
of AAP will be promoted so that it goes beyond the
provision of life-saving information, since it also
safeguards the basic rights of affected people,
enhances local resilience and adaptive capacity,
supports meaningful participation, amplifies the
voice of vulnerable people, and empowers people to
provide feedback to hold humanitarian and protection
service providers accountable. This entails vital
coordination mechanisms with existing AAP/CE
coordination bodies/structures at the national as
well as sub-national levels with critical protection
messages and dissemination of vital information as
per the community’s need, including on PSEA. The
cluster will ensure its AAP efforts are fully aligned with
efforts of the AAP/CE Working Group at the national
level to establish a common feedback and complaints
platform across the response.
In 2023, the Protection cluster and AoRs will provide
following responses:
• Provision of targeted/specialized support to
persons with specific protection needs/risks
(including activities such as cash for protection,
in-kind support, distribution of dignity kits,
distribution of child protection kits, provision
of victim assistance to people affected by EO,
protection referrals and psychosocial support).
• Case management and psychosocial support
(including multi-sectoral responses to GBV
survivors and to child survivors of GBV, as well
as to children who have experienced all kinds of
HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023
violence, abuse, neglect or exploitation, services
in the safe houses and counseling/therapy to
individual, family, or group).
• Community-based protection structures and
community-led risk mitigation initiatives.
• Community awareness raising for prevention
and mitigation of protection risks such as the
provision of information on various protection
topics targeted to women, girls, boys, children, and
persons with specific needs.
• Provision of legal aid services including counseling
and legal aid support including activities
such as legal representation, counselling, and
legal awareness.
3.8.1 Child Protection Area of Responsibility (CP AoR)
PEOPLE IN NEED PEOPLE TARGETED
5.3M 1.1M
In 2023, the CP AoR plans to reach nearly 1.1 million
children across the country. With the intensifying
conflict and a significant increase in displacement
throughout the course of 2022, the Child Protection
AoR will work to widen access to quality integrated
support services, especially for children and
adolescents in contested communities, tailored to their
needs (age, gender, disabilities and other diversities,
as well as location), with special focus on survivors
of grave violations, child abuse and exploitation,
conflict-affected children, and unaccompanied and
separated children. The Child Protection AoR will
focus on life-saving child protection support (including
distribution of relief items) and services at the level
of children, families, communities and society,
utilizing the Child Protection Minimum Standards in
Humanitarian Action 2029.
Considering the ongoing conflict and short- to long-
term displacement spreading across the country,
child protection actors will strive to strengthen
community-led child protection. Support and
services for violence prevention and response will
include MHPSS for girls and boys, positive parenting,
community-level child protection, and monitoring and
reporting, and case management support for referrals
96
• Protection monitoring and assessments to inform
advocacy, quality programming and fundraising
such as protection monitoring, needs/gap
assessments, rapid protection assessments,
durable solution site monitoring, GBV and Child
Protection safety audits, contamination surveys,
displacement monitoring, protection risk/needs
analysis and protection/humanitarian advocacy.
• Capacity building support to humanitarian actors
and services providers.
REQUIREMENTS (US$)
17M
to specialized services (e.g. legal, medical, MHPSS,
etc.) at the sub-national level. MHPSS will be delivered
through a mixed method of virtual and in-person
support, as appropriate. Child victims of grave
violations, including of those associated with armed
groups or armed forces, will be a priority for case
management and reintegration to communities.
Partners will also focus on empowering children and
adolescents through their meaningful participation.
Child Protection partners will focus as well on
empowering and strengthening local communities
to prevent and respond to child protection issues.
Additional focus will be on learning centres, and other
basic service and alternative care providers as part
of measures to prevent, mitigate and respond to child
abuse, exploitation, and violence against children.
Partners will establish quality group and individual
activities for the well-being of children, adolescents,
and parents/and caregivers.
Building on the increased scope of the Country Task
Force Monitoring and Reporting mechanism, these
efforts will be combined with enhanced prevention,
response, and advocacy on preventing grave violations
against children. This includes documentation and
HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023
verification of grave violations, victim assistance with
reintegration, psychosocial and case management
support for affected children, and advocacy at country,
regional, and global levels.
Case management support for children at risk
and survivors of abuse will be expanded under the
leadership of the inter-agency Case Management
Taskforce (CMTF) by adopting standard procedures,
services mapping, referral pathways and harmonized
capacity building plans for the child protection
workforce. The CMTF will also enhance child
protection case management through further
supporting the rollout of a child protection information
management system in Myanmar. Effective community
engagement on child protection will be sustained
and scaled-up, taking into consideration social norms
that can increase the risk of girls being exposed to
GBV including sexual violence, as well as existing
community capacity in child protection mechanisms
and their ownership.
Child Protection and GBV actors will collaborate in
implementing case management support for child
and adolescent survivors. The Child Protection AoR
will work closely with GBV actors to strengthen
response capacity particularly in collaboration with the
Task Force on Clinical Management of Rape (CMR).
Dedicated child protection and GBV actors at national
level will support and complement the respective
3.8.2 Gender-Based Violence Area of Responsibility (GBV AoR)
PEOPLE IN NEED PEOPLE TARGETED
7.7M 868K
In 2023, the GBV AoR aims to reach 967,986 people
across the country with GBV prevention, mitigation,
and response interventions. The targeting is based
on the severity of needs in each location, as well as
analysis of partner presence, access, and operational
capacities. The GBV AoR will continue to engage
with diverse partners to identify potential operational
solutions in areas with limited or no presence of GBV
actors and will provide technical support to expand
coverage and reach to meet the humanitarian needs.
While more focus is placed on response to the needs
97
working groups/task forces, as well as sub-national
coordination groups to maximize collaboration
between the two AoRs through the establishment of
a national level CP/GBV WG. This will include timely
referrals to appropriate clinical service providers by
child protection actors including trained community
members. Child Protection groups will be strengthened
to ensure appropriate community level referral and
response services are in place, and access to CFSs
with recreational activities. Child protection partners
will ensure that training and materials are tailored to
the different contexts across the country to ensure that
interventions remain relevant and place survivors at the
center of any response. Child Protection will continue
to strengthen its collaboration with the Education
Cluster to ensure child protection needs are prioritized
and addressed across its strategies and response.
The CP AoR will support the HCT’s development
of a well-coordinated localization strategy, with
the aim of equipping, engaging and strengthening
the capacity of and partnership with local actors in
the sector, particularly CSOs wherever feasible to
achieve sustainable impact as part of the durable
solutions initiatives. The operationalization of the
5Ws will facilitate mapping of existing child protection
services and allow identification of operational and
geographical gaps.
REQUIREMENTS (US$)
28M
of IDPs due to the linkages between displacement
and risk of GBV, non-displaced stateless and returned,
resettled, and locally integrated IDPs will also be
supported as they face increasing protection risks with
diminishing support systems. The main target group
for the GBV AoR is women and girls since they are at
much greater risk of experiencing GBV. However, men
and boys will be also targeted for GBV prevention and
awareness-raising interventions, as well as for GBV
response due to the heightened risk of use of sexual
violence during the conflict. The GBV AoR will also
HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023
make concerted efforts to support other crisis-affected
people with humanitarian needs, such as persons
with disabilities and persons with diverse sexual
orientations and gender identities who tend to face
compounded risks of GBV as well as additional barriers
in accessing critical services and support.
The GBV AoR and its partners will continue to
provide sustained and adapted provision of quality
multi-sectoral response services, including case
management, MHPSS, health, legal assistance and
temporary shelter or safe houses. Where mobility and
access to in-person services are limited, GBV partners
will continue and/or expand remote service provision
based on the available guidelines, minimum standards
and technical support from the global GBV AoR. More
attention will be paid to strengthening inclusion and
consideration of special needs and vulnerabilities of
persons with disabilities, adolescents, ethnic minorities
and persons with diverse sexual orientation and
gender identities through assessments and targeted
responses. In order to ensure timely response and
referrals, the GBV AoR and its partners will regularly
update service mappings and referral pathways in
quickly changing operational environments. Dignity kit
distributions, in addition to meeting people’s immediate
needs in relation to dignity and menstrual health, will
be complemented by information sharing on GBV risk
mitigation and available services. The GBV AoR will
also coordinate with the PSEA Network and Monitoring,
Analysis and Reporting Arrangements (MARA) Working
Group to make sure survivors of sexual exploitation
and abuse and conflict-related sexual violence can
access required services. The GBV AoR, in partnership
with the PSEA Network, will strengthen engagement
with GBV service providers and humanitarian actors,
3.8.3 Mine Action Area of Responsibility (MA AoR)
PEOPLE IN NEED PEOPLE TARGETED
11.4M 2.1M
The overall situation in Myanmar remains challenging
but there is more space to implement activities in
comparison to last year. MA AoR activities around
prevention and risk awareness, as well as victim
assistance can take place relatively unhindered in
98
with particular attention to informal justice actors, to
ensure that stakeholders understand what constitutes
SEA and how to report and refer alleged cases
appropriately.
As part of the GBV mitigation and prevention
strategies, the GBV AoR will conduct community
engagement (especially with men and boys, camp
or community leaders and informal justice actors),
and will promote of women and girls’ empowerment
and safety, including through psychosocial support,
and GBV assessments and GBV risk mitigation by
coordination with other clusters and working groups.
These interventions aim to reduce negative coping
mechanisms arising from the prevailing political and
socioeconomic crises. Regular GBV safety audits and
assessments will be conducted, including follow-up
on recommendations to enhance a safe environment
for women and girls through early identification of
risks and advocacy with other humanitarian actors
to mitigate such risks. To ensure service quality,
continuous efforts will be made to offer capacity
building and coaching for service providers, with
special emphasis on CSOs, women’s organizations and
organizations representing at-risk population groups.
The GBV AoR strives to strengthen safe and ethical
data collection, analysis and utilization for advocacy
and programming purposes, including the strategic
use of the GBV Information Management System,
and safety audit findings, in line with global best
practice and the ICCG Information Sharing Protocol. In
communities where early recovery interventions can
be undertaken, the GBV AoR members will focus on
initiatives aimed at addressing negative social norms
that perpetuate violence and abuse.
REQUIREMENTS (US$)
14M
areas where access is possible, while adapting the
approach of delivery in areas where access is difficult.
There are some geographical areas where activities are
reduced or not taking place at all. Mine clearance work
HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023
remains mostly off-limits and is heavily controlled by
armed actors.
The Myanmar MA AoR has been instrumental in
coordinating mine action activities across the country.
It is anticipated that the delivery of activities will
increase moving into 2023 in terms of reach, as
well as quality. In 2023, the MA AoR aims to reach a
similar number of people to those reached prior to
the pandemic and the military takeover through EORE
which is around 400,000.
MA AoR will continue to provide victim assistance
activities and plans to develop a reliable
comprehensive Myanmar Victim Information System
with access to transparent data to ensure that the MA
AoR disseminates accurate information and receives
details about requests, requirements, and preferences
from MA AoR members. An EORE dashboard will be
developed using the 5Ws.
MA AoR will promote mainstreaming EORE into the
wider humanitarian response. This effort ensures wider
reach to affected people and provides opportunities for
synergies between activities to maximize impact.
In 2023, the AoR will conduct an assessment of its
role in coordination, supporting service delivery,
informing strategic decision making, planning
and implementing AoR strategies, monitoring and
evaluating performance, supporting robust advocacy
and promoting AAP.
The MA AoR will continue to support initiatives in
relation to advocacy for marking and clearance of
hazardous areas. This will take place through advocacy
with the Special Envoy, Special Rapporteur and
other UN Special Procedures, influencing positions,
as well as the HCT on the humanitarian impact of
EO in Myanmar.
Myanmar has benefitted from longer-term donor
support on MA priorities and has a good base of
trained and experienced staff that allows for scalability
to reach a larger number of affected people.
99
Integrated programming, multi-sectoral responses
and inter-cluster linkages
The 2023 HRP emphasizes a rights-based approach to
humanitarian activities. In line with this, the Protection
Cluster will continue to prioritize stand-alone and
mainstreamed protection activities. Specific focus will
be placed on enhancing the mainstreaming protection
in the other sectors through technical support including
by developing guidance notes and training, especially
now that the cost of this mainstreaming has been
fully captured in sectoral costings for the first time in
2023. To support it further, the Protection Cluster and
AoRs will be part of joint or inter-agency assessments
and monitoring activities. In addition, non-protection
partners will receive technical and capacity building
support from the Protection Cluster and its partners
on protection and humanitarian principles. Further,
the MHPSS Working Group will work to strengthen the
MHPSS capacity of frontline workers to identify people
in need of referral to psychosocial services including
their self-care, particularly in response to increasing
needs due to conflict and multiple vulnerabilities. To
enhance multi-sectoral response and inter-cluster
linkages, in 2023, the Protection Cluster intends to
establish an inter-agency referral system in Rakhine
and pilot it so that multi-sectoral responses can be
provided on the needs basis. To localize the protection
response and promote community-based protection
approaches, targeted and more systematic investment
will be made to enhance local and community
capacities, as well as existing community structures
at the camp level or in displacement sites, in close
collaboration with the CCCM Cluster for timely delivery
of protection services.
The GBV AoR will work closely with other clusters and
working groups to ensure GBV risk mitigation is a core
element of the humanitarian response. Support and
guidance will continue to be provided to all clusters
according to their sectoral needs, through bilateral
consultations, learning sessions and dedicated
technical notes. To respond to the diverse needs of
GBV survivors, the GBV AoR will further strengthen
coordination with and referrals to multi-sectoral
partners including through strengthening referrals
for clinical care for GBV survivors in collaboration
with health partners. With the expansion of CVA, the
HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023
GBV AoR will work closely with the Cash Working
Group to integrate GBV risk mitigation into CVA as
well as promote safe usage of CVA as part of GBV
interventions. In addition, the GBV AoR will provide
training and technical support to other cluster partners
to orient them on GBV basic concepts, guiding
principles and risk mitigation to ensure effective and
timely referrals based on a survivor-centered approach.
Where feasible, joint, or integrated assessments will
be conducted together with other clusters to identify
protection threats, including GBV risks and identified
issues will be addressed by working together with
relevant cluster partners.
The CP AoR will collaborate with the Education Cluster
to focus on safeguarding through the establishment
of school-based reporting mechanisms for children
with issues related to violence and exploitation. It
will also work with the Education Cluster in child
friendly and temporary learning spaces whereby
children’s psychosocial support is collaboratively
catered for through the different activities. Work will
be completed with the Health Cluster on specialized
care for child survivors of violence including GBV. The
MA AoR will continue to collaborate with other clusters
to mainstream EORE through technical support,
engagement, collaboration, and advocacy in order to
minimize the risks.
Cost of the response
Protection activities remain vital to providing quality
response services, including Child Protection, GBV
prevention and response, Mine Action and MHPSS
interventions. Therefore, experienced, and qualified
staff are required to deliver specialized and targeted
protection responses. The main component of the
cost of protection response is human resources since
protection interventions are labor-intensive, requiring
qualified, experienced and dedicated staff to deliver
different types of activities and services, including
technical support, continuous capacity building, risk
analysis, supervision, and quality assurance and
monitoring. Additionally, costs are incorporated to
ensure data protection principles are followed since
the Protection Cluster and AoR partners need to
safeguard sensitive data and information.
100
Cluster partners will be extending protection services
to new locations especially hard-to-reach areas. This
requires additional resources for operational set-up,
ensuring a safe and conducive environment to provide
protection interventions, including through national
partners, and establishing specialized or targeted
services. The costs include regular capacity building,
coaching and supervision to ensure quality responses
and investment in inclusive service provision. Inflation
is likely to have minimal impact on protection services
except for the cost of procuring dignity kits. The
Protection Cluster and AoR average cost-per-person is
$59 in 2023, compared to $58 last year.
Monitoring
The Protection Cluster, including the AoRs and as
interdependent coordination bodies and working group,
will monitor the progress and quality of responses
against the annual targets on a quarterly basis, through
the 5W reporting tool, which will inform the overall
response against agreed upon indicators, in line with
the HRP monitoring requirements. The 5W monitoring
tool will be enhanced to capture information on
planned protection interventions across all the
geographical areas, as well as for all population groups
targeted for assistance. New partners will be oriented
on the 5Ws reporting system, while refresher sessions
will be organized for current partners. The Protection
Cluster will continuously engage with national or
local partners and their reporting focal points to
enhance 5Ws reporting and support them to enhance
their contribution to the humanitarian response. To
improve the quality of reporting, dedicated bi-annual
consultations on 5Ws reporting and HRP reporting
requirements will be organized. Monitoring processes
will be further enhanced through field visits, where
possible, to enable evidence-based reporting.
Response-related information will be disseminated
through interactive dashboards and other products that
can be shared publicly. Response will be supported
through service mapping (wherever possible), to
highlight available services and gaps in the different
geographical locations and use the information for
evidence-based planning and reporting. To make the
information sharing process simpler and minimize
risks to the partners, the Protection Cluster will work
in alignment with the existing ICCG Information
HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023
Sharing Protocol. The Protection Cluster will also
conduct its annual Cluster Coordination Performance
Monitoring and use the results to develop plans for
corrective actions.
Capacity, gaps and limitations
In the first 3 quarters of 2022, 81 protection partners
were either present or delivered humanitarian
assistance across the country. National and
International NGOs continue to make up the largest
proportion of protection responders in Myanmar,
followed by community-based organizations, and
UN organizations. This presence was maintained
despite the enormous challenges presented by heavy
fighting and access constraints that were encountered
throughout 2022. Following the events of February
2021 and the uncertainties surrounding safety and
security, both national and international protection
partners experienced serious limitations in accessing
people, mainly across Northwest and Southeast.
In 2023, it can be anticipated that access challenges
will persist with continued insecurity, deeper
registration issues for national partners, delays in or
refusal of TA, as well as other ad hoc and area-specific
access constraints in some locations. Protection
partners will continue to invest in the new fit-for-
purpose coordination structure recommended through
the P-to-P review process at the local, state/region and
sub-regional level to ensure protection responses are
delivered in a coordinated, transparent, impartial and
accountable manner and in line with the Humanitarian
Principles. Moreover, the Protection Cluster will
continue scaling up and streamlining its coordination
mechanisms through engagement with thematic
actors like the Human Trafficking Working Group
(HTWG), providing capacity support and advocating for
access to funding especially local and national NGOs.
The cluster will continue to strengthen localization,
to ensure timely and extensive service delivery,
considering the operational dynamics including
strengths and challenges of different partners.
Wherever access remains a challenge, partners will
use appropriate and safe remote response modalities
to deliver services to communities targeted for
assistance. Additionally, partners will continue
101
engaging volunteers, community and camp-based
staff, displacement and durable solutions site
focal points, community networks, CSOs and NGOs
(localization), as relevant and appropriate. Partner
agencies will be supported to train staff on remote
response modalities, particularly on case management
which has been very helpful in the hard-to-reach areas.
Great emphasis will be placed on avoiding ethical
challenges especially around confidentiality which, if
not fully observed, have the potential to significantly
affect the quality of services. To overcome access
challenges, there has also been increased use of cash.
To address ‘Do No Harm’ considerations related to
cash support.
Links to development programming
Protection concerns cannot be addressed by one entity
and require coordinated and timely engagement by
different actors, including human rights, humanitarian,
development, and peacebuilding partners. The
Protection Cluster will continue engaging and working
with nexus and development-oriented coordination
structures and partners to ensure protection is
considered across different workstreams. Due to the
disruption of public social services, especially across
the Northwest and Southeast, the Protection Cluster
and its partners, together with AoRs, will work to
expand the coverage of interventions to ensure the
availability and accessibility to life-saving protection
services. Nexus approaches will be streamlined and
enhanced, considering protection and resilience
priorities. Protection actors will avoid creating parallel
systems and ensure full coordination in service delivery
among protection partners, including local CSOs.
Protection activities will be linked to the rights violation
referral system and related advocacy when incidents
are identified. Additionally, wherever applicable, a
transition from emergency humanitarian response to
early recovery, and eventually durable solutions for
IDPs will be explored, as appropriate.
HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023
3.9
Shelter/NFI/CCCM
PEOPLE IN NEED PEOPLE TARGETED
3M 952K
REQUIREMENTS (US$) COST-PER-PERSON (US$)
88M 92
Cluster objectives
CO1: Assist IDPs and other conflict and disaster
affected people with emergency, temporary shelter,
or semi-permanent shelter support (including the
maintenance, repair, upgrading and replacement of
existing shelters), and emergency NFI provision that
enhances protection, dignity, safety and privacy taking
into consideration environmental aspects
CO2: Assist returned/resettled IDPs and non-displaced
stateless people with emergency, temporary shelter,
or semi-permanent shelter support (including the
maintenance, repair, upgrading and replacement
of existing shelters) and NFI provision to enhance
protection, dignity, safety, and privacy taking into
consideration environmental aspects.
CO3: Strengthen settlement monitoring, service
coordination and maintenance of camp infrastructure
CO4: Strengthen the capacity of camp management
actors, communities, and service providers at camp
level on camp management and coordination, as well
as protection mainstreaming.
CO5: Reinforce community participation activities at
camp and settlement level.
The Shelter/NFI/CCCM Cluster will focus on five
objectives in 2023. The first two (related to shelter
102
WOMEN AND GIRLS CHILDREN (0 - 18) WITH DISABILITIES
52% 35% 13%
PARTNERS
57
and NFIs) will concentrate on addressing affected
populations’ emergency needs ensuring contextualized
access to life-saving accommodation and relief items,
targeting the most vulnerable and at-risk population
groups to prevent s deterioration of humanitarian
conditions and needs. Activities under these objectives
include improvement of protection outcomes by
ensuring people have adequate safety, dignity, physical
and mental well-being. Inclusive and equitable access
to emergency shelter-NFI provision and solutions will
be prioritized, including through the strengthening
of cluster members’ engagement, participation,
and capacities.
In terms of CCCM, the cluster will focus on three
objectives: Strengthening settlement monitoring,
service coordination and maintenance of camp
infrastructure; strengthening the capacity of camp
management actors, communities, and service
providers at camp level on camp management and
coordination; and finally protection mainstreaming
and reinforcing community participation in activities at
camp and settlement levels to ensure AAP
The cluster will ensure close coordination with
Protection partners, the GBV AoR and the Disability
Inclusion Technical Advisory Group to improve
data analysis on shelter and NFIs, and incorporate
protection information in programming, focusing
on the needs of vulnerable groups. The cluster will
HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023
continue to mobilize partners and ramp up advocacy
on behalf of affected populations to ensure minimum
standards of safety and dignity are met. The activities
will incorporate a settlement-based approach and
ensure coherence among cross-cutting themes such
as cash/market-based programing, “Do No Harm”
principles, GBV and health risk mitigation, protection
mainstreaming, and conflict sensitivity programming.
Response
Given the added complexity and increased level of
severity of the ongoing crisis in Myanmar, the cluster
’s number of people in need in 2023 has increased
significantly compared to the previous year. The 2023
HNO identified 3 million people in need of shelter,
NFI and CCCM assistance, with some 952,000 of the
most affected and most vulnerable prioritized for
assistance this year. While large, the gap between
people in need and targeted for assistance is a
realistic product of field expert judgment, analytical
reviews by region, and partners’ capacity to deliver
and respond considering the current challenges such
as severe access constraints and funding challenges.
Nevertheless, the cluster has the capability to scale-up
the response further depending on the availability of
adequate funds and increased humanitarian access to
the affected population.
In the Northeast, Cluster partners will provide
emergency shelter and NFI support to the newly
displaced population. Coordination, service monitoring,
community engagement, and emergency, temporary
shelter and NFI replenishment will be prioritized for
protracted displacement sites, alongside support to
strengthen the shelter capacity outside of camps.
Such interventions include shelter support and
NFIs provided on a needs basis. In the Northwest,
based on projections of surging displacement and
re-displacement in 2023, the cluster is focusing on
emergency, life-saving activities and the mitigation
of humanitarian consequences related to protection
risks. In the Northwest, there are already hundreds
of thousands of self-settled, unplanned settlements
which are the least visible and most underserved.
Cluster partners – based on accessibility – will use
community engagement approaches and target those
settlements through mobile modalities including
103
using an area-based approach to addressing barriers
facing these vulnerable communities in accessing
services. Those most exposed and vulnerable such as
women, children, the elderly, and those with special
needs IDPs, returnees and crisis-affected people with
humanitarian needs are the target population groups
for provision of emergency shelter, core-relief NFI kits
and material support.
Due to the severe access constraints, the Northwest
will require a mixture of cash and in-kind modalities
and local, area-based procurement to ensure
shelter-NFI support is available. In terms of CCCM,
cluster partners will work closely with community
leaders and community groups to assess the
priority needs of people in informal settlements
and ensure multi-cluster collaboration, including
information sharing and joint analysis to design an
appropriate response.
In Rakhine, cluster partners will continue to prioritize
shelter and NFI support to IDP sites (formal and
spontaneous), as well as the IDPs who return to
their villages of origin or are resettled. Due to the
diminishing levels of access, partners will increase
their engagement with local/community-based
organizations who have demonstrated ability to gain
access to affected communities. Through Rakhine-
based coordination structures, Cluster members
will be advocating for access to all unreached and
hard-to-reach IDP locations to mitigate against the
impact of access challenges on the condition and
volume of shelter available, as well as on availability
of relief items. In Rakhine, cluster members will
work to maintain contingency stocks according to
the Inter-Agency Contingency Plan. Continued camp
management and shelter and NFI assistance in
Rohingya and Kaman IDP sites will remain a priority.
In these camps, permanent Camp Management
Agency presence is required to ensure localization
via community engagement, and to help ensure
community ownership of key community participation,
site improvement, service monitoring and coordination
activities. In the AA-MAF IDP sites, site focal agencies
will continue to scale-up their capacity in monitoring
the increasing needs and numbers of IDPs displaced
by conflict. Site focal agencies will also continue
HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023
to expand their networks and engage in capacity
building efforts with local actors and CSOs to ensure
their involvement in identifying and delivering key
services, including shelter and NFI support to the sites
wherever possible.
In the Southeast (southern Shan, Kayah, Kayin,
eastern Bago, Mon and Tanintharyi), Cluster partners
will prioritize and respond to emergency shelter
and NFIs needs of IDPs throughout 2023. Based on
CCCM capacity development activities implemented
in 2022, partners will organize training programmes
to improve their work in assessing and reporting the
main needs, challenges, and gaps in terms of services
through coordination mechanisms established in the
region. The cluster will work with the CWG to map the
capacity and strengthen engagements with CSO and
NNGO partners that may have some access to deliver
cash responses.
Integrated programming, multi-sectoral responses
and inter-cluster linkages
At national and sub-national levels, the cluster will
coordinate and work bilaterally, directly, and closely
with the Health, Protection, WASH and other clusters
and working groups to address the dire conditions
in which displaced families live. The aim is to ensure
that the sites are safer, more habitable, and better
organized based on the assessed needs of the
population, and to enhance AAP.
The cluster will also pursue the resourcing of further
initiatives to assist specific target populations or to
mitigate against identified protection needs, especially
GBV within displacement settings. In terms of
humanitarian access constraints, the cluster will work
with the HAWG and logistics partners to jointly explore
mechanisms to better reach vulnerable populations in
hard-to-reach areas with vital assistance and services.
Cluster partners will mainstream protection across
activities including monitoring of service provision,
repairs and upgrades to shelter infrastructure,
and provision of emergency NFIs. In coordination
with the Protection Cluster, needs assessments
will be conducted to identify the gaps/needs, risks
104
and preferences of women and girls, persons with
disabilities, and the elderly.
At the sub-national level, in the Northeast (Kachin
and northern Shan) CCCM is positioned as a cross-
cutting area of work, and directly receives requests and
feedback from camp residents and camp management
committees, as well as through camp management
agencies, which are then referred on to the respective
clusters for timely response. In the Northwest (Chin,
Magway and Sagaing), the cluster will work with the
ICCG to refer complaints, address issues relating to
service provision and improve humanitarian access.
In Rakhine, the cluster will prioritize people with
specific needs and apply the AGD principle during
assessments. Through collaboration with protection
partners, the cluster will ensure all complaints
regarding shelter and NFIs are addressed, and that
regular feedback is provided on pending issues. The
cluster will continue to operate as a cross-cutting
area in facilitating complaint mechanisms and service
monitoring and enabling the work and initiatives
of other clusters as required, particularly for cross-
cutting issues such as camp closure. In the Southeast
(southern Shan, Kayah, Kayin, Bago, Mon and
Tanintharyi), cluster partners will strengthen integrated
programming and multi-sectoral response at both
strategic planning and implementation levels, which
will include working with protection and mine action
partners during initial needs assessments.
Cost of the response
The cluster requirement is based on an activity costing
approach. The cost-per-person for the Shelter, NFI and
CCCM response in 2023 is $92, up from $80 in 2022.
The impact of inflation in 2022 was assessed and
tracked on a quarterly basis. Following these trends
and based on field expert judgment and existing
programing experiences, the cluster estimated that
inflation would increase costs by 30 per cent for
the Shelter and NFIs response, and by 10 per cent
for CCCM activities – including the costs of training
and protection mainstreaming activities. The CCCM
funding requirement is based on an average staff
and transportation cost of running a “mobile” CCCM
response modality, including the costs for the running
HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023
of complaints and feedback mechanisms. In terms
of protection mainstreaming, the cost was calculated
through consultation with partners based on service
monitoring and maintenance works under CCCM and
Shelter activities.
Monitoring
At national level, the cluster has a 5W matrix that
collects information from partners on a quarterly basis
to track progress on activities, and to assess and map
emerging assistance gaps, community feedback and
protection concerns and mitigate against duplication.
In the same line, the cluster will use as reference
the Monthly Humanitarian update (MHU) and MHF
reports to anchor monitoring efforts. In 2022, the
cluster implemented a CCCM capacity development
strategy to reinforce partners’ skills and to enhance
their technical management in tracking and monitoring
service standards, community engagement and
contribution to coordination. The cluster relies on a
pool of national CCCM trainers who will be responsible
and accountable to train others at settlement level,
with trainings to be replicated at sub-national and
national levels.
The impact of the cluster ’s work will be monitored
on a quarterly basis with site monitoring and cluster
analysis reports to be collected and shared by
partners. The cluster will monitor the result of its
capacity development strategy through capacity
building reports. In addition, the cluster will work on
establishing and monitoring oversight systems for
tracking the evolving needs of displaced populations
and community participation, in coordination with
the protection cluster. In Rakhine, the cluster will
continue to use its standard site and camp profiles
across the Rohingya and Kaman camps, and AA-MAF
sites to monitor overall displacement demographics.
In the Rohingya and Kaman camps, thorough tracking
of shelter and NFI needs is carried out by the camp
management agencies, while in AA-MAF sites focal
agencies monitor shelter and NFI needs for new
arrivals and protracted IDPs.
 
105
Capacity, gaps and limitations
Escalating conflict, political instability, and economic
shocks, worsened by lingering COVID impacts have
driven up the number of people in need for the second
year in a row, with displacement and the depth of IDP
needs extending beyond anticipated scenarios. The
increasing number of people in need, in vulnerable
locations with worsening humanitarian access is
affecting the ability of humanitarians to conduct needs
assessments and service monitoring countrywide. The
provision of assistance to the most vulnerable groups,
safety and security, access to basic services and
livelihood opportunities are all affected by the conflict
trends. Movement restrictions continue to weigh
heavily on many affected populations, particularly
the Rohingya and Kaman people in camps. The
disruptions to the national banking system and general
economy are also affecting the cost of relief items and
availability of supplies on local markets.
The restrictions on access to some IDP locations are
a major challenge for the cluster and its partners.
Access to some IDP sites around urban areas has been
shut down completely with a push towards closure.
The unpredictability in terms of access in conflict
areas has made it extremely difficult to plan and deliver
meaningful interventions and support to several IDPs in
these restricted sites. Lack of access to those staying
in informal displacement sites in jungles and forests,
many of whom need to stay on the move for safety,
is impeding the delivery of sustained assistance to
these most needy groups. The supply chain disruption
and increasing restrictions on transportation of items,
expected to persist in 2023, will present additional
constraints for partners.
The lack of adequate access to health services is
also affecting the physical and mental well-being of
the affected population who are in camps and camp-
like settings, resulting in increased vulnerabilities
and protection risks. Underfunding of CCCM work
is undermining the quality of the response. In 2022,
CCCM agencies have had to rely on pulling staff
from other clusters to carry out their site facilitation
activities, which impacts the quality and consistency
of the response and services. In 2023, continued high
civilian displacement is anticipated in line with conflict
HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023
trends, meaning that sufficient levels of funding
will be critical to cover protracted camps as well as
new camps and sites, particularly in the Northwest.
In the Southeast and Northwest, humanitarian
access constraints are impeding response capacity
of partners, and the increasing trend of new
displacements raises the risk of more IDPs being
forced to endure the vital shelter and NFI assistance
they need for a safe and dignified life.
Links to development programming
In 2023, the cluster will prioritize emergency and
life-saving assistance to the most affected and
vulnerable population groups and locations while
strengthening engagement with development actors
including through joint planning, assessment and
analysis, and information sharing activities that will
explore durable solutions in feasible areas. The cluster
will provide technical capacity to develop improved
shelter designs for development actors, considering
the GBV mainstreaming approach. This approach will
also include shelter analysis that identifies high-risk
sites for COVID-19 and other disease transmission and
106
the highlights the specific needs of different groups
(women, children, elderly, single/ female headed
households, persons with diverse sexual orientation
and gender identities and persons with disabilities).
In the Northwest, the cluster will engage with
development partners to plan the return response for
the hundreds of thousands of IDPs whose houses have
been burned or destroyed during attacks and clashes.
Advocacy around the need for communal infrastructure
in villages of origin and return will be prioritized to
ensure that returning populations continue to enjoy
quality services. Some planned NFI activities, including
distributions in AA-MAF IDP sites, that were suspended
due to worsening insecurity and access restrictions
in 2022 will be shifted to 2023 in collaboration with
development actors who are also anxious to reach
these locations with different kinds of support. Cluster
partners will continue to encourage durable solutions
that include links to development and peace building
programming.
HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023
3.10
Water, Sanitation and Hygiene
PEOPLE IN NEED PEOPLE TARGETED
5.2M 1.6M
REQUIREMENTS (US$) COST-PER-PERSON (US$)
112M 69
Cluster objective
CO1: Implement, operate and sustain quality and high
standard water and sanitation services and promote
good hygiene practices to crisis-affected, displaced,
returned and stateless people.
Cluster Activities
The WASH Cluster plans to ensure that affected
people including IDPs, returnees, stateless and other
crisis-impacted groups have equitable, inclusive, and
safe access to:
• Safe and improved drinking water meeting
demand for domestic purposes, at minimum/
agreed standards.
• Functional excreta disposal systems, reducing the
risk of waterborne diseases.
• Hygiene items and community-tailored messages,
enabling health seeking behavior.
• Integrated/mainstreamed WASH services in
temporary learning spaces.
• Integrated/mainstreamed WASH services in
temporary health facilities.
Response
To fulfill the above objectives, the WASH Cluster
response will prioritize the following activities:
• Ensuring safe and improved access to water
supply, sanitation services and good hygiene
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WOMEN AND GIRLS CHILDREN (0 - 18) WITH DISABILITIES
52% 35% 14%
PARTNERS
45
practices. These will remain mostly temporary and
semi-permanent in design considering the context
of the camps/sites, the cost and the push for
return, resettlement, and local integration of IDPs.
This approach will also avoid further entrenching
the situation of populations living in camps for
protracted periods. In protracted camps, durable
solutions will be considered and explored in
coordination with development actors.
• Construction, operation and maintenance of
WASH facilities will remain a priority in 2023 to
ensure facilities meet the minimum cluster and
international (Sphere) standards.
• Tailored hygiene supplies (or cash alternatives
where feasible and appropriate), hygiene
promotion, including menstrual hygiene and
hygiene messages will continue to be provided
based on needs and vulnerability.
• Ensuring the availability of contingency stocks of
WASH supplies needed to respond to unforeseen
crises including natural disasters and influxes of
newly displaced populations.
• Exploring the possibility of remote delivery and
service provision to ensure that vital supplies
can reach people in hard-to-reach areas and
other conflict-affected locations that are facing
access challenges.
In addition to the above, the cluster strategy for
2023 seeks to further enhance integration and
HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023
mainstreaming of services across clusters. The
response will, therefore, also prioritize specific
WASH interventions for prevention and mitigation
of protection risks, including PSEA and GBV in
close collaboration with protection actors; WASH in
TLSs in partnership with the Education Cluster; and
support for WASH infrastructure in temporary health
facilities, where needed. In 2023, the WASH Cluster
in collaboration with the Health Cluster will support
20 per cent of temporary health facilities in locations
targeted for assistance.
The WASH Cluster will continue to adopt response
modalities and approaches that optimize cost
effectiveness, efficiency, and principled service
delivery, integrating with local markets, and service
provision managed by local authorities and the private
sector. Improved AAP through more robust and
inclusive complaints and feedback mechanisms will
be promoted, in addition to a system of continuous
consultation, involvement, and engagement of affected
communities including women, girls, PLW, the elderly,
and other vulnerable groups in the design and provision
of WASH services.
The 2023 WASH Cluster response will build on
lessons learned in previous years, including the
technical working groups and will reflect some new
WASH facility designs, approaches, and standards.
Localization and sustainable partnership-based
approaches will continue to be prioritized for WASH
responses in the existing protracted camps with
more community mobilization efforts as part of an
exit strategy. The WASH cluster will also prioritize
capacity building activities for local NGOs on market-
based programming. The WASH Cluster remains one
of the few to retain a limited response in peri-urban
Yangon within its plan given the heavy dependence on
humanitarian water and sanitation services in these
areas which pre-date the military takeover.
Where feasible and relevant, WASH interventions will
aim to contribute to the humanitarian-development
nexus through the implementation of durable solutions,
coordination with development actors and other
stakeholders, as well as continued advocacy at the
108
national and international levels for increased support
and funding for the different response streams.
Integrated programming, multi-sectoral responses
and inter-cluster linkages
The cluster will collaborate with the CWG and other
technical groups and clusters to expand multi-sectoral
responses, especially in hard-to-reach locations, and
to ensure holistic coverage of needs among conflict-
affected communities.
Protection will be mainstreamed via support and
capacity building of partners in PSEA and GBV and
through awareness-raising to ensure that messages
are reaching communities and are understood.
These sensitization programmes will also cover
PSEA preventative measures and available services
for victims and survivors. Protection considerations
will be mainstreamed throughout the design and
implementation of WASH intervention to minimize
risks, particularly for vulnerable groups such as PLW,
children, and women. In states/regions affected by
EORE and IEDs, partners will be trained on EORE and
carry out awareness sessions and distribution of IEC
materials to beneficiaries.
Cost of the response
Costing exercise was conducted in consultation with
cluster members, retaining the unit cost of activities
per person/ per year as was the case in 2022. The
average cost of WASH response per person equates
to $69 (up from $64 last year), with an overall inflation
cost of 10 per cent. Protection mainstreaming
was also factored into the cluster cost for 2023 at
7 per cent.
Monitoring
The WASH Cluster has put in place robust reporting
mechanisms to track implementation of the
response, including:
• The 4Ws document on protracted caseloads
is updated quarterly. Compilation of 4Ws data
is followed by information analysis and gap
identification. Corrective measures are put in place
as needed in consultation with cluster partners.
HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023
In parallel, the WASH Cluster has an independent
mechanism of spot checks and field visits to
support the triangulation of information received
through the 4Ws. Furthermore, cluster partners
collect specific information on WASH responses
and AAP, in line with the cluster core functions.
• The 3Ws document on new displacement is
compiled and updated monthly. This is followed
by information analysis and gap identification.
Corrective measures are put in place as needed.
In addition, the WASH conducts spot checks and
field visits, similar to the 4Ws, to support the
triangulation of information received through the
3W and also collect specific information on WASH
responses and AAP mainstreaming.
• AAP-related information collected in the field will
be analyzed and fed back to relevant stakeholders.
Corrective measures will be taken where needed,
and the field teams will feed the information back
to the communities. The WASH Cluster will play an
oversight role in this regard.
SHAN
An elderly woman obtains clean drinking water from a newly built well in northern
Shan, 2022. Credit: UNHCR
109
• The combined data from the 3Ws and 4Ws
is processed and presented in snapshots
or dashboards that visualize the response
progress and provide analysis. An emergency
capacity matrix is also in place to map levels of
preparedness in case of unforeseen events. Also,
WASH partners report on funds mobilization
quarterly, which is essential in identifying funding
gaps to guide advocacy and prioritization efforts.
Capacity, gaps and limitations
In addition to the escalating conflict, the cluster
response in 2023 is likely to be impacted by funding,
access constraints in conflict-affected locations, and
the new organization registration requirements. The
new registration requirements might negatively affect
the number of operational WASH Cluster members
which may lead to a decline in WASH activities
such as the construction of new latrines and water
supply. More information sharing on access-related
constraints and issues, logistical supply chains, and
market information, as well as continued access
HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023
mapping of WASH partners and different stakeholders
will be critical to ensure continuation and expansion of
delivery of WASH assistance.
Funding shortfalls in 2022 resulted in prioritization
of the most vulnerable populations for WASH
interventions and assistance and heavier prioritization
has been incorporated from the outset in 2023 due
to anticipated funding levels. Many communities in
conflict zones remained underserved or cut off from
assistance as a result, increasing the severity of
needs. As of the last quarter of 2022, only 8 per cent
of the total WASH Cluster funding requirement had
been received according to FTS. WASH needs in the
protracted displacement sites worsened throughout
2022 due to the acute shortages of funds. Many
operations and maintenance (O&M) activities have
been dropped with continuous need for O&M to WASH
semi-permanent facilities, as well as gaps in the
delivery of hygiene items. WASH needs are among
the most pressing and consequential, especially for
women and girls. Overcrowding in many camps with
insufficient access to safe drinking water, sanitation
facilities and management services due to funding
shortages could trigger or increase the risks of
diarrheal and waterborne diseases.
Links to development programming
The WASH Cluster will continue to collaborate with
development actors to identify durable and resilience-
building solutions, providing an improved and more
sustainable approach to WASH programming that is
complementary to the work of development actors.
Examples include:
• Durable water supplies (e.g. water pond
rehabilitation, water pipelines construction etc.) in
villages with IDPs, returnees and host community
populations to mitigate against water scarcity
which currently requires short-term/yearly funding
for water boating or trucking in Rakhine.
• Localization approaches that move towards
community ownership of WASH services,
maintenance, and hygiene practices.
• Community mobilization to phase out cash-for-
work activities.
110
• Coordination with other sectors to move towards
a multi-purpose market-based cash or voucher
approach to strengthen local markets.
The WASH Cluster will explore increased engagement
with development actors in market systems
development interventions in Rakhine to build the
strength of local small and medium size businesses,
improve local supply chains and enhance the skills
of local entrepreneurs. This will promote increased
local livelihood opportunities as well as improved
availability of supplies in local markets. This approach
would be harmonized to link with the cluster ’s
move towards cash and voucher-based systems of
assistance, particularly for hygiene supplies and water
purification solutions.
The WASH Cluster will continue to advocate for
the provision of WASH assistance to both host
communities and IDPs to minimize social tensions
resulting from pressures on existing infrastructure
and markets. This approach aims to improve
social cohesion and integration between displaced
populations and host communities. The cluster will
strengthen collaboration with development actors to
complement the efforts of humanitarian interventions
in displacement sites, particularly focused on durable
solutions and increasing the resilience of host
communities to cope with current and future pressures
from displacement.
HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023
3.11
Coordination and Common Services
REQUIREMENTS (US$)
7M
OCHA will continue to provide dedicated support to the
Humanitarian Coordinator, the HCT and ICCG with a
focus on the following activities:
• Maintaining and strengthening inclusive
coordination mechanisms at national and
sub-national levels to ensure principled, timely and
effective humanitarian response.
• Facilitating joint situational awareness and
analysis of humanitarian needs, gaps and response
to support decision-making and coherent planning.
• Facilitating joint strategic planning for
humanitarian response, as well as joint monitoring
and reporting.
• Mobilizing flexible and predictable humanitarian
funding for the response and effectively managing
use of CERF and the MHF.
• Advocating for the protection of civilians and
sustained humanitarian access to all women, men,
girls and boys in need.
• Strengthening preparedness for and
capacity to respond to natural disasters and
other emergencies.
• OCHA will facilitate updating the HNO and HRP.
• OCHA will coordinate the HCT contingency
planning processes, including updating the
Emergency Response Preparedness Plan.
• OCHA will support efforts on the workstreams
and prioritized recommendations from the 2022
P-2-P report.
• OCHA will support information management and
provide regular updates and analyses to inform
partners and the international community on
critical humanitarian developments. OCHA also
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PARTNERS
219
chair the IM Working Group in support of cluster
data activities.
• OCHA leads on access through its chairing of
the Humanitarian Access Working Group and its
network of offices at the sub-national level.
• OCHA will also support the HCT and the ICCG in
integrating key cross-cutting issues into relevant
planning processes and response.
• OCHA will lead on cash coordination in the
humanitarian response in line with new global
frameworks and will provide support to inter-
agency AAP efforts.
Cluster Lead Agencies will scale up cluster
coordination in an integrated and inclusive manner.
To this end, at national level, all clusters aim to secure
NGO co-leadership for which dedicated resources
are required.
Evidence-based response
The Humanitarian Programme Cycle also requires
funding to cover common data collection,
management, and analysis services to support an
evidence-based response, building on and coordinating
with the diverse existing data collection tools
being used by partners. In 2023, the response will
aspire to achieve increasingly more accurate and
informed planning by improving the evidence base for
humanitarian needs and response, including through
multi-sectoral vulnerability analysis.
Coordination on data collection will be enhanced to
ensure complementarity and comparability between
the data collected by a range of humanitarian actors.
HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023
A comprehensive analysis of multi-sectoral needs will
be conducted again in 2023 to understand the shifting
humanitarian landscape. Such a rigorous analysis is
a critical step in ensuring that the most vulnerable
are supported with the assistance they require
most urgently. To this end, the REACH Initiative is
requesting funding to undertake a second round of its
nationwide and cross-sectoral analysis of the current
and projected severity of needs of the crisis-affected
population. Depending on funding and progress, this
exercise will potentially inform the mid-year report on
the 2023 HRP and certainly the new 2024 HNO and
HRP at the end of the year.
Accountability to affected populations
Revitalized in 2021 and further strengthened
throughout 2022, the AAP/CE Working Group has set
out to support a humanitarian response that considers
the voices of affected people, their communication and
assistance preferences and the feedback they provide
through collective mechanisms.
AAP mechanisms and enhanced information gathering
can play a vital role in helping humanitarians better
understand and analyze the needs of affected people.
For 2023, AAP has been further prioritized, with
planning under way to develop a collective feedback
and complaints mechanism, as well as other efforts to
ensure effective community engagement. Collective
accountability systems allow for simpler and more
streamlined referral processes among humanitarian
actors and create more straightforward pathways for
affected people to provide feedback on their situation
and preferences, ensuring their needs are integrated
into the overall analysis framework. Funding has
been secured to bring on board an AAP Specialist in
early 2023, who will provide dedicated inter-agency
support to the AAP/CE WG and the rollout of its work
plan. If additional funding is secured, AAP partners
will undertake a perception analysis to understand
the needs of affected people better and tailor the
response accordingly. Perception surveys are essential
in tracking the humanitarian community’s collective
accountability and engagement with affected people.
112
Additional Support Services not costed through
the HRP
Information management
The Myanmar Information Management Unit (MIMU) is
a service offered through the Office of the UN Resident
Coordinator, which provides a range of information
management support to organizations and donors
engaged in emergency preparedness, humanitarian,
development and peace-focused activities across
Myanmar. While not costed and funded through
the HRP, MIMU will continue to focus on the
following activities:
• Safeguarding a common data and information
repository and operational data sets countrywide.
• Producing relevant information products to
strengthen preparedness, response and recovery,
including updated base and hazard maps, as well
as vulnerability analyses.
• Maintaining updated 3W information (who is doing
what, where), contact lists, assessment tracking,
and meeting schedules to support inter-agency
coordination.
• Providing nationwide data coding standards as
well as technical support to the development of
national protocols and systems for more efficient
analysis, planning and targeting.
• Leading the Information Management (IM)
Network bringing together IM focal points from
across agencies, clusters, and sectors to promote
coordinated and standardized approaches to
information management across all emergency
preparedness, humanitarian, development,
and peace-focused actors in Myanmar. This is
complemented by the humanitarian-focused IM
Working Group.
• Providing technical support and training to
agencies and partners to strengthen IM capacity.
• MIMU makes its information and analytical
products (as well as those of UN agencies and
other partners) accessible to a wider group of
stakeholders through the MIMU website. MIMU
works in coordination with clusters, OCHA, UNHCR,
WFP and other partners providing information
management capacity in support of humanitarian
action in Myanmar.
HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023

Staff safety and security
The United Nations Department of Safety and
Security (UNDSS) will continue to focus on enabling
humanitarian activities while ensuring the safety and
security of humanitarian workers as a high priority.
While not costed or funded through the HRP, UNDSS
plays a support role for the response. This will be
achieved through improved information gathering
and analysis for evidence-based assessments and
decision-making. Common inter-agency missions to
areas with challenging security situations will continue
to enhance access and operational impact. Security-
related incidents that impact staff safety, continuity of
activities, or affect access, will be tracked to determine
trends and appropriate courses of action. Safety and
security-related information, assessments and reports
will continue to be shared with implementing and
operational humanitarian partners to ensure situational
awareness. On behalf of the United Nations Security
Management System, UNDSS will continue to function
as the focal point for regular security cooperation with
implementing and operational humanitarian partners in
line with the Saving Lives Together (SLT) framework.

National-level cluster coordinators

CLUSTER NAME EMAIL

Education Catherine Mercy cc.edcluster-mm@humanitarianresponse.info

Food Security Laurent Gimenez laurent.gimenez@wfp.org

Health Ann Fortin afortin@who.int

Nutrition Mabasa Farawo mfarawo@unicef.org

Protection Mohan Lamsal lamsal@unhcr.org

Shelter/NFI/CCCM Jacqueline Julca julca@unhcr.org

WASH Eyad Aldubai ealdubai@unicef.org

113
HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023

Part 4:
Annexes

SHAN
A woman leads a tailoring skills acquisition session for fellow adolescent IDP girls
in northern Shan, 2022. Credit: UNHCR

114
HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023

4.1
Planning Figures by Cluster and by Area

PEOPLE IN NEED PEOPLE TARGETED REQUIREMENTS (US$) PARTNERS

17.6M 4.5M 764M 219

Planned Humanitarian Response by Area
STATE/ REGION PROJECTED PEOPLE IN PEOPLE IN NEED ESTIMATED NO. OPERATIONAL
BASELINE NEED TARGETED TARGET REQUIREMENTS (US$) PARTNERS
POPULATION

Ayeyarwady 6.3M 1.4M 277K 21.8M 16

Bago (eastern) 2.9M 878K 166K 24.7M 16

Bago (western) 2M 567K 89K 9.6M 1

Chin 536K 347K 184K 38M 36

Kachin 2M 671K 212K 48.8M 62

Kayah 340K 264K 182K 41.8M 41

Kayin 1.7M 639K 260K 52.5M 51

Magway 3.9M 1.4M 320K 57.9M 16

Mandalay 6.7M 1.3M 183K 8.9M 14

Mon 2M 570K 107K 17.3M 27

Nay Pyi Taw 1.3M 281K - 0.4M 1

Rakhine 3.5M 1.7M 937K 187.7M 69

Sagaing 5.7M 2.6M 818K 147.3M 25

Shan (eastern) 1M 258K 47K 5.7M 5

Shan (northern) 2.9M 802K 189K 27.7M 44

Shan (southern) 2.8M 836K 276K 48M 55

Tanintharyi 1.5M 442K 93K 16.9M 16

Yangon 8.9M 2.7M 117K 9.4M 39

Total 56M 17.6M 4.5M 764.3M 219

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HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023

Planned Humanitarian Response by Area

STATE/ REGION PEOPLE TARGETED BY SEX BY AGE WITH
FEMALE | CHILDREN DISABILITIES
IDPS RETURNED, NON- OTHER CRISIS- TOTAL MALE | ADULTS | (%)
RESETTLED DISPLACED AFFECTED (%) ELDERLY
AND LOCALLY STATELESS PEOPLE WITH (%)
INTEGRATED PEOPLE HUMANITARIAN
IDPS NEEDS

Ayeyarwady 0.5K 0.6K 276K 277K 52 | 48 33 | 55 | 12 17

Bago (eastern) 39K 10K 117K 166K 53 | 47 35 | 54 | 11 13

Bago (western) 89K 89K 53 | 47 26 | 59 | 15 13

Chin 80K 3K 101K 184K 53 | 47 47 | 44 | 09 21

Kachin 115K 13K 83K 212K 49 | 51 35 | 57 | 08 9

Kayah 95K 21K 66K 182K 51 | 49 31 | 61 | 08 11

Kayin 118K 19K 123K 260K 51 | 49 39 | 52 | 09 17

Magway 111K 8K 200K 320K 54 | 46 30 | 57 | 13 17

Mandalay 0.8K 0.1K 182K 183K 53 | 47 30 | 58 | 12 10

Mon 24K 8K 75K 107K 53 | 47 34 | 53 | 13 15

Nay Pyi Taw - - - - - - - -

Rakhine 253K 14K 447K 223K 937K 52 | 48 35 | 55 | 10 17

Sagaing 542K 31K 246K 818K 54 | 46 31 | 57 | 12 10

Shan (eastern) 47K 47K 48 | 52 35 | 56 | 09 9

Shan (northern) 50K 15K 124K 189K 51 | 49 36 | 55 | 09 9

Shan (southern) 96K 30K 150K 276K 51 | 49 37 | 55 | 08 9

Tanintharyi 31K 8K 54K 93K 51 | 49 37 | 52 | 11 12

Yangon 3K 114K 117K 52 | 48 29 | 62 | 09 12

Total 1.6M 183K 447K 2.2M 4.5M 52 | 48 35 | 55 | 10 14

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HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023

Planned Humanitarian Response by Cluster

PEOPLE IN PEOPLE IN NEED REQUIREMENTS (US$) NO.

NEED TARGETED TARGETED OPERATIONAL
PARTNERS

Education 3.8M 1.3M 86M 75

Food Security 15.2M 2.1M 192M 71

Health 10M 2.3M 106M 72

Nutrition 2.2M 590K 48M 35

Protection 11.5M 2.1M 124M 77

Shelter/NFI/CCCM 3M 952K 88M 57

WASH 5.2M 1.6M 112M 45

Sex and Age Disaggregation of People Targeted for Assistance by Cluster

PEOPLE BY SEX FEMALE BY AGE CHILDREN WITH

TARGETED FEMALE | MALE MALE CHILDREN ADULTS DISABILITIES
(%) | ADULTS | ELDERLY
ELDERLY (%)

Education 1.3M 51 | 49 95 | 05 | 00 15%

Food Security 2.1M 52 | 48 36 | 54 | 10 15%

Health 2.3M 52 | 48 33 | 56 | 11 13%

Nutrition 590K 71 | 29 57 | 43 | 00 13%

Protection 2.1M 52| 48 34 | 56 | 10 13%

Shelter/NFI/CCCM 952K 52 | 48 35 | 55 | 10 13%

WASH 1.6M 52 | 48 34 | 55 | 11 14%

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HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023
4.2
What if We Fail to Mobilize Sufficient Funds?
The situation in Myanmar deteriorated significantly in
2022 with an unprecedented surge in displacement
due to the worsening conflict, economic shocks
driving up inflation and loss of livelihoods, residual
impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic, and general
unrest resulting in the near collapse of critical public
services, that has collectively left millions of people
dependent on humanitarian assistance. Despite the
multi-dimensional vulnerabilities and consistent
burden of new displacement throughout the year,
humanitarian partners managed to rapidly scale up in
2022 in response to new needs and flexibly adapted
to new delivery modalities in line with the new realities
of access constraints in conflict-affected areas and
bureaucratic impediments.
However, acute funding shortages impeded partners’
ability to deliver a meaningful package of assistance
last year, with only about 35 per cent of the HRP
funding requirements received as of 31 December
2022. The total 2023 HRP financial requirement of
$764 million will need a decisive commitment from the
donor community to allow for planned responses to be
fully implemented, even with the tighter prioritization
outlined. Without the required funds, humanitarian
partners will have to prioritize lower-cost life-saving
and critical activities that do not offer the required
depth of relief or contribute to people’s overall well-
being, dignified living standards, or chance of finding
durable solutions. The heavy prioritization already
applied in the HRP planning will mean that more people
in more severe categories of need will miss out on
support if requirements are not met. This unmet need
will have flow-on implications for subsequent years
with needs worsening over time and requiring more
expensive interventions in future plans.
In the current context, with prior coping capacities all
but exhausted and food insecurity on the rise, that
118
may mean people – especially the newly displaced
– will face the real possibility of not being able to
survive. This section outlines the consequences
of underfunding and how each cluster will triage
its planned response activities at different funding
levels – a quarter, half, and three-quarters of
requirements – to provide guidance on the most urgent
cluster priorities and illustrate the consequences of
underfunding for affected people.
Education
More than 13 million school-age children across
Myanmar have had their education disrupted in
multiple ways due to the worsening conflict, after
having missed school for two academic years already
as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Some 3.7 million
children are currently out of school across Myanmar,
with severe impacts on their physical and mental well-
being. With the conflict trends from 2022 projected to
extend or even deteriorate further in 2023, the situation
could be particularly grim for children who continue
to miss out on critical education services and life skill
learning opportunities. Missed learning means their
development potential will be reduced, and they will
be more vulnerable to exploitation and abuse. Children
denied schooling are more likely to suffer mental and
emotional distress. The risks faced by children include
child labour, early or forced marriages, GBV, forced
recruitment by armed groups, while the number out-of-
school children will be much higher across Myanmar in
2023. The disruption of education will have long-term
impacts on the country’s economy and society.
If only 75 per cent of the required funding is received,
the Education Cluster will support continuity of quality
and inclusive learning for crisis-affected children and
youth including IDPs, non-displaced stateless, and
other children and youth who are among the most
vulnerable. They will benefit from an improved learning
HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023
environment through the rehabilitation of learning
spaces including WASH in school interventions,
delivery of relevant learning materials, and training
of teachers and targeted support to improve their
well-being. While this level of funding would facilitate
support to about 994,092 learners and educators, the
needs of more than 330,000 would remain unattended
to – exposing them further to protection risks like child
trafficking, exploitation, child labour, child marriage and
SEA which will hinder their development and fulfilment
of their full potential in future.
If only 50 per cent is received, the cluster would
be meeting the education needs of only half the
targeted children and youth and educators to
support continuity of quality and inclusive learning
for crisis-affected children and youth including IDPs,
non-displaced stateless, and other children and
youth who are the most vulnerable. They will benefit
from an improved learning environment through the
rehabilitation of learning spaces including WASH
in school interventions, receive relevant learning
materials, and training of teachers and targeted
support to improve their well-being. However, more
than 662,000 vulnerable children and youth targeted
for assistance will miss out on support – exposing
them further to protection risks like child trafficking,
exploitation, child labour, child/forced marriages and
SEA which will hinder their development and fulfilment
of their future potential. With a 50 per cent cut in
resources, geographical prioritization of areas based
on vulnerability and needs severity would be applied
by the cluster.
If only 25 per cent is received, the cluster would be
struggling to reach only 331,000 vulnerable children
and youths to access and be retained in education
programmes. This extreme cut will exclude nearly
1 million others from receiving critical education
services endangering their psychosocial well-being,
development, and the attainment of their full potential.
The response would be lighter, impacting scholastic
materials, structural upgrades and educator capacity.
Also, the targeting would get tighter, focusing only on
fewer factors such as displacement and statelessness
to determine eligibility, leaving out several other
vulnerable population groups.
119
Food Security
The combined impacts of the escalating conflict and
attacks, inflation, the devaluation of the Myanmar
Kyat, and the disruptions in the international markets
triggered by the war in Ukraine have worsened the
vulnerabilities of millions of people across Myanmar,
leaving them struggling with inadequate food
consumption and malnutrition throughout 2022.
Inflation and conflict trends have severely affected
food production and prices at a time when people are
also losing their means of livelihood and resources,
resulting in poor food consumption, especially diets
lacking adequate protein. Some 15.2 million people
will face food insecurity in 2023 on different severity
scales (moderate or severe), including an estimated
1.3 million IDPs. In other words, nearly one in three
(28 per cent) of the population will be food insecure in
2023, compared to one in four (25 per cent) reported
in October 2021 and one in five (20 per cent) in April
2022. Reduced access to safe and nutritious food,
livelihoods and cash support due to underfunding may
result in increased malnutrition, particularly among the
most vulnerable groups. Underfunding and a reduced
food security response would drive intensified use of
negative coping strategies that will undermine safety,
dignity, and capacity for recovery.
If only 75 per cent of the required funding is received,
the Food Security Cluster will prioritize emergency food
assistance and emergency agriculture and livelihood
responses for all states and regions classified as
“stress”, “severe” and “extreme” to cover critical gaps
and support people’s livelihoods and reduce the
number of people targeted for assistance from 2.1
million to 1.7 million. The cluster will work to ensure
that all affected and vulnerable areas are covered
with the different forms of response programmes
including emergency food assistance, agriculture
and livelihoods.
If only 50 per cent is received, the cluster will
prioritize emergency food and emergency agriculture
and livelihoods responses for all states and regions
classified as “severe and extreme” to cover critical
gaps and support people’s livelihoods but at a reduced
scale and reach. The cluster will strive to maintain
agriculture and livelihood activities to ensure food
HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023
remains available/affordable and avoid massive asset
depletion and emergency coping strategies. Areas
classified as “stress” will miss out on assistance,
leaving up to close to 900,000 vulnerable people
without food assistance potentially worsening food
insecurity with affected people likely to resort to
negative coping strategies that could further endanger
their well-being.
If only 25 per cent is received, the cluster will
prioritize emergency food assistance and emergency
agriculture/livelihood responses for all states and
regions classified as “extreme” to cover critical gaps
and support people’s livelihoods but at very small
scale and reach. The Cluster will strive to maintain
agriculture and livelihood activities to ensure food
remains available/affordable and avoid massive asset
depletion and emergency coping strategies. Areas
classified as “stress” and “severe”, with close to 1.5
million people will miss out on assistance increasing
malnutrition rates and the risks of negative coping
mechanisms such as sale of productive assets, child
labour, and exposure to SEA and GBV particularly for
women and girls. With the conflict trends expected
to remain severe or further escalate in 2023, more
civilian displacement and further loss of livelihoods
is anticipated and the impact of humanitarians being
unable to meet emergency food needs could be
catastrophic.
Health
Escalating conflict as well as the political and
socioeconomic crises have had profound impact
on the Myanmar health system, which is currently
severely disrupted with acute shortages of qualified
staff and essential supplies, and also the impacts
of direct and indirect targeting during attacks and
clashes, leaving some 10 million people in need in
2023. Childhood immunization has already declined
to about 40 per cent in 2021, increasing the risk of
vaccine-preventable disease outbreaks and spread,
especially as public health surveillance systems, have
been severely disrupted in many places. Increased
conflict displacement, rising inflation and the loss of
livelihoods place women and girls at disproportionate
risk of interpersonal violence and sexual exploitation in
exchange for safety or commodities. Drug and alcohol
120
use and domestic or GBV are common occurrences
in these situations. Adolescents and young people
are more susceptible to engaging in risky behaviors
(sexual activity, drugs, and alcohol use) due to missed
education and job opportunities.
If only 75 per cent of the required funding is received,
the Health Cluster will deliver and sustain primary
health services and basic packages including maternal,
child and adolescent health, sexual and reproductive
health, MHPSS, GBV-related health services and
complementary packages covering surgery and
trauma, TB and HIV services for the populations
targeted for assistance across conflict-affected areas.
Vaccination gaps will be filled for under-5 children,
and timely detection and coordinated response to
notifications of outbreaks for epidemic-prone diseases
will be facilitated. COVID-19 response (testing, case
management, Infection Prevention and Control (IPC),
vaccination, Risk Communication and Community
Engagement (RCCE), capacity building) will be
mainstreamed into humanitarian health services
across locations targeted for assistance. Training will
be provided for health partners on accurate and timely
data collection and reporting for displaced, returned,
stateless and crisis-affected people, disaggregated by
age, sex, and disabilities, to inform decision-making.
Only 1.8 million of the 2.3 million people targeted for
assistance will be supported in this situation.
If 50 per cent is received, the Health Cluster will work
to sustain all the critical health programmes including
primary health services, maternal, child and adolescent
health, sexual and reproductive health, MHPSS,
GBV-related health services and complementary
packages covering surgery and trauma, TB and HIV
services for the populations targeted for assistance
across conflict-affected areas. Vaccination gaps will
be filled for under-5 children, and timely detection and
coordinated response to notifications of outbreaks for
epidemic-prone diseases will be facilitated. However,
COVID-19 response and mainstreaming will be
dropped, raising a critical risk of resurgence given that
vaccination coverage is still less than 50 per cent in the
country, especially in conflict areas where people are
often living in overcrowded displacement sites. At this
 HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023
funding level, only 1.3 million of the 2.3 million people
targeted for assistance will be supported.
If 25 per cent is received, the cluster will further
tighten targeting, scale and coverage of critical health
programmes prioritizing only primary health and basic
packages, vaccination of under-5 children, timely
detection and coordinated response to outbreaks,
and training of health workers. Only 700,000 of the
2.3 million people targeted for assistance will be
supported in this situation. Some vital health services
including the complementary services for surgery and
trauma, HIV and TB, rehabilitation services, and also
COVID-19 response will be deprioritized for populations
across crisis-affected and vulnerable areas. Given that
the health system is already severely disrupted in many
areas, this extreme tightening of targeting will leave a
large number of affected and vulnerable people and
communities without critical support increasing the
risks of relapse, mortality and resorting to dangerous
coping strategies such as drug use, self-medication,
sexual exploitation among other negative outcomes.
Nutrition
The cumulative impacts of the deteriorating insecurity,
high inflation, reduced incomes and the near collapse
of the Myanmar public health system worsened the
nutritional well-being of households throughout 2022,
leaving more than 2.2 million people in need going
into 2023. Rising inflation, loss of livelihoods, market
disruptions and poor harvests meant that households
adopted poor feeding practices and could not afford
nutritional or dietary supplements, resulting in high
malnutrition caseloads including for children and PLW.
Nearly 340,000 children under the age of five and more
than 250,000 PLW will be targeted for humanitarian
nutrition assistance in 2023. Underfunding
consequences include high rates of malnutrition
and related morbidity and mortality. Children with
untreated SAM are more than nine times as likely to
die than healthy children. Uninterrupted treatment
for SAM is also critical and uncertain funding makes
this more difficult to achieve. Ripple effects of
unaddressed acute malnutrition include reduced
immune capabilities and exposure to disease, reduced
cognitive development associated with lower school
performance and low productivity levels in adulthood
121
affecting the development prospects of communities
and the country. Malnourished women are more likely
to give birth to low birth weight (LBW) babies wo are
more susceptible to childhood illness and mortality.
Children with low birthweight are at higher risk of
chronic diseases like diabetes, heart problems and
tuberculosis later in life. Micronutrient deficiency
diseases including anemia will rise if micronutrient
supplements or fortified foods are not provided to the
children and PLW in vulnerable target communities.
If only 75 per cent of the funding requirement is
received, the Nutrition Cluster will prioritize life-saving
interventions, such as treatment of SAM and other
preventative interventions like IYCF and micronutrient
treatment. SAM must be prioritized to prevent
avoidable deaths among affected children. About
147,000 children of the total targeted for assistance
will not be reached at this funding level.
If only 50 per cent is received, the cluster will work
to sustain critical response for SAM treatment across
affected and vulnerable areas, while the scale of other
interventions will be reduced which could potentially
jeopardize the long-term survival and development
prospects of children, communities, and the country
at large. Close to 295,000 combined beneficiaries will
not be provided with life-saving humanitarian support
at this funding level, raising the risk of more vulnerable
populations, especially children and PLW, falling from
MAM into SAM and dying from their conditions.
If only 25 per cent is received, the Nutrition cluster will
only be able to prioritize life-saving interventions such
as the treatment of SAM cases. Other preventative
interventions like IYCF and micronutrient treatment
will be discontinued. The impact of this on affected
people will be catastrophic, with long-term negative
impacts on the well-being of children across Myanmar.
Approximately 443,000 targeted people will not be
provided life-saving humanitarian support in this
situation, with severe consequences, especially for
malnourished children and PLW who are unable to
receive critical support.
HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023
Protection
Without full funding for immediate protection and
multi-sectoral assistance, affected populations
and communities risk resorting to harmful coping
mechanisms, especially children, youth, women at
risk, persons with disabilities, older people, people
belonging to different ethnic groups. The risk of
trafficking and recruitment by armed groups within
or outside Myanmar is likely to increase, along with
discrimination, persecution, violence, abuse, neglect
and exploitation of marginalized groups or persons
with specific protection needs. The continued stress
among caregivers and people in need of specific
care due to displacement and ongoing conflict,
alongside the deterioration of the social safety nets
within their communities, will undoubtedly have
long-term consequences for the mental and physical
well-being of children, older persons, persons with
disabilities and people in need of special medical
attention. Insufficient funding will also impede
efforts to strengthen community systems which
are central to risk mitigation and response. In the
absence of well-funded, comprehensive and properly
integrated MHPSS, people’s emotional well-being
and chances of recovery will be jeopardized, leaving
many people suffering from long-term trauma and
mental disorders. Inability to seek legal redress for
violence and violated rights will deepen a culture of
impunity, which perpetuates violence and diminishes
the protective environment for all members of the
community. Statelss Rohingya people, who are almost
entirely dependent on the humanitarian community
for support, would be left in a dire situation. More than
2 million of the most vulnerable people targeted for
assistance and impacted by conflict, insecurity, human
rights violations, structural discrimination, and natural
disaster, will not benefit from protection responses in
the context of acute funding shortages.
If only 75 per cent of the required funding is received,
the cluster will prioritize the provision of life-saving
protection services, community-based protection
and support to survivors or victims of violence. This
means that other activities such as capacity building,
legal aid services, and awareness raising may not be
provided, increasing serious protection risks across
the geographical areas targeted for assistance.
122
Approximately 600,000 people may not receive some
or all planned protection services at this funding level.
If 50 per cent is received, the cluster targets within
the prioritized geographical areas and targeted
population groups will be reduced. IDPs, non-displaced
stateless people, and returnees, resettled and locally
integrated people will be the response priority, while
people from the other crisis-affected communities
with humanitarian needs will only be assisted if at
heightened risk. Immediate and life-saving protection
activities will be put before longer-term prevention and
empowerment programming in this situation. At this
funding level, some 1.1 million people may not receive
some or all planned protection services.
If 25 per cent is received, the Protection Cluster
interventions will target the most marginalized
geographical areas and only reach IDPs, non-displaced
stateless people, and returned, resettled and locally
integrated people. People at heightened risk will be
prioritized, including children, persons with disabilities,
older people, victims of landmine/ERW incidents,
survivors of violence, abuse and exploitation and grave
violations. Interventions will be focused on emergency,
life-saving, one-off, high-reach interventions to meet
immediate needs and provide critical information and
awareness-raising on protection risks and available
services. Approximately 1.5 million people would be
at risk of being cut off from vital protection services at
this funding level.
Shelter, NFIs and CCCM
With surging displacement, more people than ever
will continue to be in urgent need of shelter, NFIs and
CCCM support and services going into 2023. Without
a fully-funded and immediate shelter, NFI and CCCM
response, the increasing number of IDPs living in
substandard displacement sites will face serious
protection risks, including physical and psychosocial
harm and exposure to extreme weather conditions.
Women and children at risk, persons with disabilities,
and the elderly will be particularly affected. Not having
timely access to camp management, shelter and NFI
services will seriously jeopardize the dignity of people's
living conditions. People's emotional well-being and
HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023
chances of recovery will be jeopardized, leaving many
people suffering from long-term trauma.
If 75 per cent of the funding requirement is received,
in the Northeast the cluster will prioritize CCCM
support (including camp running cost and the
implementation of critical infrastructure like communal
hall, road renovation, fencing etc) in existing camps
on priority basis considering protection and dignity
of people. Additional/new camp sites likely to open
in these locations will not be supported which means
newly displaced people will likely face challenges to
receive basic services across displacement sites.
Shelter construction will be prioritized, including
for emergency and makeshift shelters for new
displacement and the repair and replacement of
dilapidated shelters. However, the implementation will
be limited to existing camps only. This implies that
new IDPs needing proper shelter and those willing
to move out of camps will not be supported; their
living conditions will be degraded if they relocate to
transitional solution sites without proper shelters. This
category of IDPs would be left out and discouraged to
find the future and get back to normalcy.
Emergency NFIs will be prioritized for newly people
while replenishment of supplies will be limited.
In the Northwest, the cluster will prioritize needs
assessments among displaced people and the
provision of emergency shelter and NFIs as a first
response. In northern Rakhine, the cluster will prioritize
shelter and NFI kits to support the existing IDP sites
which are in serious need of shelter rehabilitation.
Depending on the level of access, returnees will
be prioritized based on the level of need. In central
Rakhine, the cluster will sustain CCCM activities in
the Rohingya and Kaman IDP camps regardless of the
funding situation given their relative vulnerability. The
volume of planned shelter and NFI assistance in both
AA-MAF and Rohingya and Kaman camps will, however,
have to be reduced. Any new arrivals in AA-MAF sites
would continue to be prioritized for shelter and NFI
assistance, as will shelter reconstruction in Rohingya
and Kaman camps.
In the Southeast, the provision of emergency shelter/
NFIs will be prioritized for people with specific needs
123
in hard-to-reach areas and other locations where IDPs,
returnees, non-displaced stateless people are hosted.
If 50 per cent is received, in the Northeast, the Cluster
will prioritize CCCM support including coverage of
camp running costs, CCCM Focal Point and capacity
building for CMCs to run the camps. Emergency or
makeshift shelter construction and maintenance of
shelters in camps will be prioritized. The construction
of new shelters or replacement of dilapidated shelters
in camps and the maintenance of camp infrastructure
will be limited, affecting many IDPs throughout the
region. NFIs will be limited to emergency support only.
Transitional shelters will not be considered at all.
In the Northwest, the Cluster will prioritize emergency
shelter and NFI provision. In northern Rakhine, the
Cluster will prioritize shelter and NFI support in terms
of reinforcement kits for only the most vulnerable and
persons with specific needs in the IDP and returnee
population groups. In central Rakhine, shelter and
NFI assistance in both AA-MAF and Rohingya and
Kaman camps will be reduced. Any new arrivals in
AA-MAF sites will be prioritized for shelter and NFI
assistance, as will shelter reconstruction in Rohingya
and Kaman camps. The Cluster will have to cut the
budget for CCCM activities across the AA-MAF sites
in this funding context. The impact of this will be
reduced ability to engage with IDP communities and
coordinate with service providers in these IDP sites.
In Southeast, persons with specific needs in hard-
to-reach areas will be prioritized for emergency shelter
and NFI assistance.
If 25 per cent is received, in the Northeast, the cluster
will prioritize CCCM support (limited camp running and
focal point costs) to existing camps, shelter repairs,
NFIs to those needing an emergency response and
limited shelter kit support to newly displaced people.
This will severely affect protracted IDPs whose shelter
conditions are deteriorating every year. Those who
have not received NFIs for many years would have
to use the worn out and depleted NFIs; those staying
in colder regions would not be supported with winter
items; those willing to relocate will not be supported
with shelter and NFIs; growing families will have
to continue staying in congested shelters and new
HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023
arrivals will have to stay in makeshift shelters if their
displacement is prolonged.
In the Northwest, an emergency NFI response will be
implemented only. In northern Rakhine, emergency
shelter and NFIs will be limited to the most vulnerable
and people with specific needs. In central Rakhine,
cluster partners will still prioritize CCCM support in
Rohingya and Kaman IDP camps, and shelter and NFI
assistance to any new arrivals in AA-MAF sites. CCCM
in AA-MAF sites will not be considered, and shelter and
NFI assistance for protracted IDPs will be drastically
reduced. Additionally, assistance for makeshift shelters
in Rohingya and Kaman camps will also likely be cut.
Winterization items for AA-MAF IDPs will be cut from
the NFI assistance package. IDPs – both from AA-MAF
and Rohingya and Kaman camps/sites who are in need
– will continue to live in squalid conditions, and unsafe
shelters. In the Southeast, emergency shelter and NFI
support will be provided only to people with specific
needs in hard-to-reach areas leaving other affected and
vulnerable groups without assistance and exposed to
protection risks.
WASH
With the escalating conflict forcing new displacement
across Myanmar, the impacts of underfunding on
the 2023 Cluster response could be catastrophic,
as the lack of safe water, hygiene and sanitation
support will have detrimental consequences for
more than 1.6 million people targeted for assistance.
Communities will revert to negative and dangerous
coping mechanisms such as drinking water from
contaminated sources and practicing open defecation.
Using unsafe water sources, lack of hygiene and
unimproved sanitation facilities often lead to
increased cases of acute watery diarrhea (AWD), a
major underlying factor increasing the number of
children with SAM. Without continued support from
donors and humanitarian organizations, outbreaks of
preventable, communicable and waterborne diseases
could occur, and the resurgence of COVID-19 remains a
risk especially in congested camps. Underfunding will
mean that dignified access to essential WASH services
will be particularly restricted in areas, affecting the
safety of women and children. Combined with poor
awareness of hygiene and sanitation practices, the lack
124
of funding will lead to the growing absence of personal
hygiene and menstrual health items.
If only 75 per cent of the required funding is received,
the WASH Cluster will prioritize the provision of WASH
services and material deliveries in geographic locations
with conflict-affected and displaced populations
across all 15 states and regions. This means that
some 407,000 people, including newly displaced,
non-displaced and acutely vulnerable populations
in other locations will miss out on critical life-saving
assistance and will be unable to contribute to their own
recovery. The scale and coverage of vital programmes
such as water trucking/boating, installation of latrines,
distribution of WASH NFIs, and minor rehabilitation of
water and sanitation systems will be reduced or limited
to life-saving needs.
If 50 per cent is received, the Cluster will – at a
reduced scale and reach – prioritize the provision of
WASH services and material deliveries in targeted
geographic locations with conflict-affected and
displaced populations. This reduction means that
some 815,000 people will miss out on critical WASH
life-saving services, which include essential WASH
services such as safe drinking water, sanitation and
hygiene materials to mitigate against the outbreak and
spread of WASH-related and waterborne diseases.
Also, the WASH services would not meet the SPHERE
and WASH Cluster minimum standards which would
diminish key areas of dignity and mainstreaming of
gender, protection, AAP, etc.
If 25 per cent is received, all the funding will
be prioritized towards ensuring ongoing WASH
interventions for protracted displacement sites
and areas targeted for assistance are sustained,
leaving some 1.2 million vulnerable people across all
regions of the country with limited/minimal WASH
support. Targeting will focus on emergency life-saving
interventions for extreme cases, which may not meet
the SPHERE and WASH Cluster minimum standards,
impacting on the dignity of living conditions and
mainstreaming of gender, protection, AAP, etc. This
would add greater risks for WASH-related, waterborne
disease outbreaks and their spread, creating additional
stress on already stretched health care systems and
HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023

services. These acute funding shortages will result

in the targeting of only the most vulnerable and high-
risk population groups and areas for WASH activities
such as water trucking/boating and water supply,
installation of latrines, and distribution of WASH NFIs,
leaving many vulnerable areas and populations without
assistance that could increase the use of dangerous
practices such as open defecation and use of water
from unsafe sources.

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4.3
How to Contribute

Contribute to the Humanitarian Response Plan
Myanmar’s HRP provides an overview of sector-specific
activities required to address the needs of affected
people, and of the estimated funding requirements
to address these needs. To learn more about the
outstanding needs, gaps and response priorities, and
to contact lead agencies, download the plan at:
Contribute to the Myanmar Humanitarian Fund
The Myanmar Humanitarian Fund (MHF) is a multi-
donor pooled fund that provides humanitarian
organizations in Myanmar with rapid and flexible
funding to address the most critical funding gaps
of the humanitarian response. Information on the
Myanmar pooled fund can be found at:

www.unocha.org/myanmar https://www. unocha.org/myanmar/about-mhf

Donate to the Central Emergency Response Fund

The CERF provides funding for life-saving actions at the
onset of emergencies and for poorly funded, essential
humanitarian operations in protracted crises. The
OCHA-managed CERF facility receives contributions
from various donors – mainly governments, but
also private companies, foundations, charities and
individuals – which are combined into a single fund,
to be used for crises anywhere in the world. Between
2006 and 2021, CERF has provided over $131.27
million to address life-saving needs in Myanmar. Find
out more about the CERF and how to donate by visiting
the CERF website at:

cerf.un.org/donate

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4.4
Activity Costing by Cluster

Education
UNIT
PLANNED TOTAL COST
ACTIVITY COST
REACH (US$)
(US$)

Establish/rehabilitate TLSs that are accessible to all crisis affected children and youths
CA1.1 300,000 60 18,000,000
(incl those with physical disabilities)

Provide/improve safe accessible context appropriate and gender segregated WASH

CA1.2 300,000 27 8,000,000
facilities in learning spaces

Provide/expand safe, relevant, accessible, quality and inclusive non formal education
CA1.3 opportunities for all crisis and displacement affected children and youth (ECCD, and 300,000 37 11,000,000
basic education)

Provide individual age/ task-appropriate, and inclusive learning materials/education

CA1.4 supplies/ for use by learners and educators (learners and educators kits - note books, 300,000 40 12,000,000
pencils, pens, back packs, uniforms/school clothing, etc)

CA1.5 Equip learning spaces with appropriate supplies (e.g. black boards, furniture, chalk, etc) 300,000 20 6,000,000

CA1.6 Provide CVA (based on feasibility) 300,000 7 2,000,000

Provide age and context-appropriate menstrual hygiene and health management

CA1.7 information sessions and materials/supplies (sanitary pads/napkins/towels) to 235,000 9 2,000,000
adolescent girls in learning spaces

Recruit and retain quality educators through provision of incentive payments for
CA2.1 50,000 120 6,000,000
educators

Provide EiE relevant capacity building to volunteer and community educators (EiE, learner
CA2.2 50,000 60 3,012,036
centered pedagogy, SEL, PSS, DRR, CP, Child safeguarding, etc)

Provide inclusive age and context-appropriate, supplemantary open learning materials/

CA2.3 resources to conflict and displacement-affected children and youth to support their 300,000 27 8,000,000
education

Train educators and or parents/caregivers in effective use of supplementary learning

CA2.4 65,000 31 2,000,000
materials

Strengthen EiE response capacity of CSOs, NGOs, ethnic ,monastic and local
CA3.1 partners (incl EORE, PSEA, advocacy, coordination, resource mobilization,contingency 1,052 2,985 3,140,000
plans, AAP, etc )

Establish/ and or build capacity of education committees/PTAs to actively participate in

CA3.2 220 4,091 900,000
education in their communities

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Food Security
UNIT
PLANNED TOTAL COST
ACTIVITY COST
REACH (US$)
(US$)

CA1.1 Food assistance / MPCA (For IDPs) 1,470,000

CA2.1 Food assistance / MPCA (For non IDPs) 366,000 91 192,401,938

CA3.1 Agriculture & livelihoods MPCA 533,482

Health
UNIT
PLANNED TOTAL COST
ACTIVITY COST
REACH (US$)
(US$)

CA1.1 Fill vaccination gaps for U5 children 126,302 9 1,167,032

Timely detection and coordinated response to notifications of outbreaks for epidemic-

CA1.2 40,804 20 807,926
prone diseases

COVID-19 mainstreaming (testing,case management,IPC,vaccination,RCCE,capacity

CA1.3 229,241 21 4,841,573
building) into humanitarian health services

Primary Health services Basic Package including maternal, child and adolescent health,
CA2.1 32 72,623,600
sexual and reproductive health, MHPSS, GBV-related health 2,292,412

CA2.2 Primary Health services Complementary Package for surgery and trauma 229,241 79 18,155,900

CA2.3 Primary Health services Complementary Package for TB 1 2,395,800

2,395,800

Primary Health Services Complementary Package for rehabilitation services and

CA2.4 provision of assistive devices for persons with injuries and different forms of 171,931 40 6,808,462
impairments

Training on systematic applying data disaggregated by sex, age and vulnerable

CA3.1 - - -
population

Nutrition
UNIT
PLANNED TOTAL COST
ACTIVITY COST
REACH (US$)
(US$)

CA1.1 Children 6-59 months screened for wasting 338,375 13 4,425,949

CA1.2 PLW screened for malnutrition 251,887 13 3,294,687

CA1.3 Children aged 6-59 months with SAM admitted for treatment 14,714 205 3,015,133

CA1.4 Children aged 6-59 months with MAM admitted for treatment 57,550 57 3,261,934

CA1.5 PLW with MAM admitted for treatment 26,686 89 2,385,223

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Boys and girls aged 6-59 months at risk of acute malnutrition in priority locations who
CA1.6 170,846 89 15,270,246
received blanket supplementary feeding support programme

PLWs at risk of acute malnutrition in priority locations who received blanket

CA1.7 126,193 66 8,390,553
supplementary feeding programme

CA1.8 Primary caregivers of children 0-23 months receiving IYCF counselling 251,887 5 1,372,786

CA1.9 Children 6-59 months receiving multiple micronutrient powders 338,375 11 3,688,291

Pregnant women receiving preventative Multiple Micro-nutrient tablet or iron-folic acid

CA1.10 251,887 11 2,745,572
supplementation

Protection
UNIT
PLANNED TOTAL COST
ACTIVITY COST
REACH (US$)
(US$)

CA 1.1 Provision of targeted/specialized support to persons with specific protection needs/risks 782,833 68 53,107,258

CA 1.2 Case management and psychosocial support 466,195 44 20,613,962

CA 1.3 Provision of legal aid services including counseling and legal aid support 49,129 50 2,464,900

CA 2.1 Community based protection structures and community 1,980 1,721 3,407,040

CA 2.2 Community awareness raising for prevention and mitigation of protection risks 15 31,297,053
2,152,580

CA 3.1 Protection monitoring and assessments 10 12,050,000

1,251,600

CA 4.1 Capacity building support to humanitarian actors and services providers 4,627 181 836,326

Shelter/NFI/CCCM
UNIT
PLANNED TOTAL COST
ACTIVITY COST
REACH (US$)
(US$)

CA1.1 Provision of Emergency shelter support (construction) - -

CA1.2 Provision of Emergency shelter support (kits and materials/ cash assistance) 285,492 59 16,796,001

CA1.3 Shelter construction and reconstruction (IDP Camps and Sites) 68,866 238 16,410,533

CA1.4 Provision of NFI kits to DPs in camps/ sites 603,629 42 25,533,928

CA1.5 Provision of NFI kits to IDPs 112,005 41 4,560,600

CA2.1 Provision of transitional shelter and reconstruction (Returnees) 36,238 436 15,814,136

CA2.2 Provision of NFI kits to returnees/ resettled, stateless people 74,870 32 2,427,384

CA3.1 Coordination and monitoring of multi-sector 677,556 4 2,488,925

CA3.2 Improve living conditions through site care and maintenance 390,579 3 1,085,638

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CA4.1 Implementation of CCCM trainings 682 213 145,566

CA4.2 Implementation of CCCM ToTs 220 782 172,040

CA5.1 Development of community participation activities 650,795 3 1,850,252

CA5.2 Establishment/maintenance of complaint/ feedback mechanism and clear referral pathway 395,128 2 623,005

Water, Sanitation and Hygiene

UNIT
PLANNED TOTAL COST
ACTIVITY COST
REACH (US$)
(US$)

Crisis-affected people including IDP's returnees, stateless and other vulnerable groups
CA1.1 have equitable, inclusive and safe access to safe/improved drinking water meeting 1,098,120 34 36,955,510
demand for domestic purposes, at minimum/agreed standards

Crisis- affected people including IDPs, returness, stateless and other vulneraberal groups
CA1.2 999,019 21 20,677,621
have equitable, inclusive and safe access to functional excreta disposal systems

Crisis-affected people including IDP's returnees, stateless and other vulnerable groups
CA1.3 have equitable, inclusive and safe access to hygiene items and community-tailored 1,629,731 29 47,479,011
messages, enabling health seeking behavior

Crisis-affected people including IDP's returnees, stateless and other vulnerable groups in
CA1.4 105,934 41 4,338,009
temporary learning have access to integrated/mainstreamed WASH services

Crisis-affected people including IDP's returnees, stateless and other vulnerable groups in
CA1.5 70,125 41 2,871,604
temporary health facilities have access to integrated/mainstreamed WASH services

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HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023

4.5
Humanitarian-Development Nexus Table

Strategic Objectives and Interlinkages

Socio-Economic Resilience
Humanitarian Response Plan
Response Plan
(HRP 2023)
(SERRP 2021-2023)

SO 1: Protection risks and needs are SO PILLAR 1:*QWUGJQNFUCPF

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131
HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023

Areas of convergence assistance. In the case of the latter, the interventions

A review of SERRP activities for 2023 has helped
reduce duplication between the two plans but
interventions under the HRP and the SERRP still
converge in several areas and are complementary in
others. In the areas of convergence, the key difference
is the target populations, which for the HRP are people
predominantly located in crisis-affected areas who are
assessed to be in humanitarian need according to the
JIAF including, displaced, returned IDPs, non-displaced
stateless, and other crisis-affected people. Meanwhile,
the SERRP focuses either on development or
resilience interventions that aim to increase access
to services and strengthen people’s socio-economic
resilience across the country, without a specific
geographic focus, or on vulnerable population groups
and communities not prioritized for humanitarian
contribute to avoiding the loss of fragile development
gains that would result in situations where people must
rely on humanitarian assistance for their survival. The
type of activity reaching people under each plan will
also be different, with humanitarians more focused
on emergency and survival support (with minimal
preventative interventions) and the SERRP more
focused on work that builds community resilience,
recovery and empowerment.
The below table highlights the key areas of
convergence between interventions under the
HRP strategic objectives and the SERRP pillars,
and the focus of the activities in these areas in the
respective plans.

HRP SO 1: PROTECTION RISKS AND NEEDS ARE IDENTIFIED, MONITORED, MITIGATED, AND MET FOR 2.1 MILLION PEOPLE, WHILE THE CENTRALITY
OF PROTECTION IS UPHELD ACROSS THE HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE INCLUDING THROUGH PROMOTION OF RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS,
INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN LAW AND HUMANITARIAN PRINCIPLES

Key areas of convergence: Both the HRP and SERRP include interventions relating to GBV and violence against children (VAC) service
provision, targeted protection services, legal aid support and support for access to justice. The interventions included in the HRP specifically
target and prioritize IDPs living in camps or camp-like situations, non-displaced stateless people, returned, locally integrated, resettled people
and other crisis-affected people with humanitarian needs living in high conflict intensity areas and host communities. Special consideration
will be given to people who are exposed to specific protection risks due to armed conflict, families impacted by destruction of houses and
people at heightened risk of abduction, violence, forced recruitment, human trafficking and forced labour. The GBV and VAC interventions
under the SERRP more broadly aim to increase access to services for survivors across the country, building community resilience. The
protection-focused interventions under the SERRP specifically target journalists, labour activists, human rights defenders, artists and CSOs for
support, where they are under threat for exercising their right to freedom of information. The SERRP further includes interventions supporting
the provision of legal aid to people detained following the military takeover as well as interventions aimed at expanding access to justice
for vulnerable communities more broadly. The HRP’s focus in these areas is towards people requiring such legal assistance within the four
specific humanitarian population groups, predominantly within conflict-affected and rural locations.

Focus of HRP interventions Focus of SERRP interventions

Among those prioritized from the HRP population groups only:
Protection
• Provision of targeted/specialized support to persons with
specific protection needs/risks including distribution of child
protection kits, provision of victim assistance to landmine/EO
victims, and provision of dignity kits.
• Case management and psychosocial support.
• Support of community-based protection structures and
community-led risk mitigation initiatives including provision of
a safe environment to GBV survivors.
• Raising community awareness on prevention and mitigation of
protection risks.
• Protection monitoring and assessments including mine
contamination surveys.
• Provision of capacity building support to humanitarian actors
and service providers including advice or technical support on
mainstreaming protection, as well as GBV and MHPSS.
• Provision of legal aid services including counselling and legal
aid support for populations of concern.
Across communities more broadly, including those with unmet
humanitarian needs:
Protection (Pillars 1 & 3)
• Support to GBV and VAC monitoring, data collection, and analysis.
• Capacity-building of non-state-actors (e.g. I/NGOs, CSOs, CBOs)
and communities to support GBV and VAC service provision and
referrals.
• Strengthen coordination of multi-stakeholder partnerships for GBV
and Child Protection service provision and referrals.
• Provision of GBV services, supplies and referrals outside
humanitarian settings.
• Capacity building of non-state actors and strengthening of
community-based approaches to enhance legal aid service
provision and enhance access to justice, including for GBV and
VAC survivors.
• Provision of legal aid support around housing, land and property
rights in informal urban settlements and other vulnerable areas.
• Implementation of community-level dispute resolution.
mechanisms on issues around HLP and labour disputes.
• Legal aid, safety and protection support to journalists, labour
activists, human rights defenders, artists and CSOs who are under
threat for exercising their right to freedom of expression.

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HRP SO 2: SUFFERING, MORBIDITY, AND MORTALITY IS PREVENTED OR REDUCED AMONG 3.1 MILLION DISPLACED, RETURNED, STATELESS AND
OTHER CRISIS AFFECTED PEOPLE EXPERIENCING OR AT RISK OF FOOD INSECURITY, MALNUTRITION, AND HEALTH THREATS

Key areas of convergence: The HRP activities under SO2 will focus on providing IDPs, returnees, stateless and other crisis-affected people
with adequate food, nutrition treatment and support, and agricultural inputs to vulnerable farmers as part of emergency livelihood support.
The humanitarian activities under this broad objective also include efforts to improve availability and accessibility of primary health care
services and subsequently reduce and prevent suffering, morbidity and mortality among internally displaced, returned, stateless and other
crisis-affected people through timely and coordinated response. The related SERRP interventions complement and reinforce the activities
under the HRP with a view to ensuring no one is left behind and vulnerable people’s resilience is built to avoid food security, nutrition and
health threats. Under Pillar 1, key converging activities include support to scale-up of social protection services for vulnerable people and
interventions aimed at increasing access to food and improved nutrition across the country, which will contribute to preventing people from
becoming in need of humanitarian assistance or suffering acute malnutrition amid food insecurity. Converging Pillar 2 interventions include
support to strengthening the resilience of rural communities through support to expanding and maintaining productive assets, provision of
inputs and promotion of adaptive agricultural and food processing methods, while building resilience of rural communities to climate change
and disasters. These interventions also reduce the risk of people becoming in need of humanitarian assistance. Similarly, under Pillar 4 the
SERRP interventions aim to increase regular and systematic access to health services across the country, which will also reduce the need for
emergency humanitarian health work over time and ensure people can get health support safety and more easily, before their health problems
become acute.

Focus of HRP interventions Focus of SERRP interventions

Among those prioritized from the HRP population groups only:
Food Security
• Provision of equitable access to sufficient, safe and nutritious
in-kind food and/or cash assistance to displaced, returned,
stateless and non-displaced crisis-affected people with
humanitarian needs.
• Rehabilitation of agricultural production through provision of
inputs and technical support, protection of productive assets,
and restoration or creation of income-generating activities
to prevent negative (and potentially irreversible) coping
mechanisms.
Nutrition
• Screening of children 6-59 months for wasting and PLW for
malnutrition.
• Securing admission for treatment of children aged 6-59
months with SAM and/or MAM, as well as PLW with MAM.
• Provision of blanket supplementary feeding support
programme to boys and girls aged 6-59 months and PLWs at
risk of acute malnutrition in priority locations.
• Provision of IYCF counselling to primary caregivers of children
0-23 months.
• Provision of multiple micronutrient powders to children 6-59
months and preventative Multiple Micro-nutrient tablets or
iron-folic acid supplementation to pregnant women.
Across communities more broadly, including those with unmet
humanitarian needs:
Food and Nutrition (Pillar 1)
• Studies and assessments of the food and nutrition situation,
particularly the underlying drivers of need and food insecurity.
• Capacity- and system-building for non-governmental and private
sector nutrition actors s to increase service delivery and improve
nutrition service outreach.
• Distribution of fortified foods and nutrition-sensitive packages
to vulnerable people and food vendors in peri-urban and other
vulnerable rural areas (outside HRP target populations).
• Strengthen access to regular and systematic nutrition services for
children and women through support to nutrition
• screening referral of all children 6-59 months on monthly basis,
provision of mother, infant and young child feeding counselling
services to pregnant women and mothers of infants through
community approaches, and provision of nutrition supplements to
children, PLW, and adolescent girls.
• Promote social behaviour change communication for healthy
nutrition and nutrition-sensitive agriculture.
• Increase and in increase engagement with food industries to
promote healthy foods and nutrition messages.
Strengthened resilience of rural communities (Pillar 2)
• Support expansion and maintenance of productive assets,
provision of inputs and promotion of adaptive agricultural and
food processing methods through cash assistance to value-chain
agents, strengthening capacities of local fishing organizations,
community-driven construction/rehabilitation of productive rural
infrastructure, access to market facilitation, veterinarian service for
improved livestock health, support for meeting agricultural export
standards and using digital payment systems for farmers.
• Provision of cash and non-cash (agricultural inputs) support to
increase food production and income of farmers outside prioritized
HRP groups and locations.
• Provision of trainings and technical assistance to farmers and rural
households to increase their agricultural production.

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HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023
Focus of HRP interventions
Health
• Improve availability and accessibility of primary health
services, among displaced, returned, stateless and crisis-
affected people, through basic and complementary packages
including maternal, child and adolescent health, sexual and
reproductive health, MHPSS, GBV-related health, illnesses such
as TB, disability, emergency health for surgical, trauma, and
referrals.
• Timely detection and coordinated response to notifications
of outbreaks for epidemic-prone diseases, such as malaria,
diarrhoea, acute respiratory infections, and vaccine-
preventable illnesses.
• Provision of primary health services complementary package
for the rehabilitation services and provision of assistive
devices for people with injuries and different forms of
impairments.
• Strengthening the capacity of health partners on accurate
and timely health data collection and reporting for displaced,
returned, stateless and crisis-affected people, disaggregated
by age, sex, and disabilities, to inform decision-making
• COVID-19 mainstreaming (testing, case management, IPC,
vaccination, RCCE, capacity building) into humanitarian health
services.
• Filling of vaccination gaps for U5 children.
134
Focus of SERRP interventions
Health (Pillar 4)
• Support to increase regular and systematic access to health
services (with a particular focus on SRMNCAH, HIV/AIDS, Nutrition,
Tuberculosis, Malaria and other communicable diseases, and
essential NCD) through capacity strengthening support (trainings,
provision of supplies, information management and disease
surveillance, referrals, etc) to a range of health service providers
including NGOs, FBOs, CSOs, EHOs and private providers and of
frontline health care workers.
• Provision of comprehensive sexuality education for out of school
youth.
• Support to community outreach work and community level referral
services, to enhance health service utilization.
• Support for enhanced supply chain and logistics management
of health commodities, including vaccines, for health service
providers.
• Support for revitalizing the routine immunization programme and
increase COVID-19 vaccinations.
• Support to enhance capacity of health facilities both public and
private to provide emergency and trauma care.
• Support strengthened pandemic preparedness including for
COVID-19 prevention and response through support to vaccination
efforts, risk communication and community engagement, disease
surveillance, testing for new potential pandemic diseases,
procurement of equipment needed for treatment, and case
management.
• Support to prevent further increase in antimicrobial resistance.
Social protection services (Pillar 1)
• Strengthen shock-responsiveness of social protection systems in
partnership with CSOs, private sector and communities.
• Develop and implement modern and robust information
management systems and digital solutions for social protection
programmes.
• Cash transfers to vulnerable children, the elderly, people with
disabilities and IDPs not prioritized through the HRP.
• Cash transfers to migrant workers, domestic workers, and
women-headed households not prioritized through the HRP.
• Mobile-based micro-insurance schemes in urban townships in
Yangon and Mandalay
• Cash for training for unemployed female garment sector workers.
HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023

HRP SO 3: AT LEAST 2 MILLION DISPLACED, RETURNED, STATELESS AND OTHER CRISIS AFFECTED PEOPLE HAVE SAFE, TAILORED, TIMELY
AND DIGNIFIED ACCESS TO THE ESSENTIAL SERVICES AND SUPPORT TO ENSURE THEIR SURVIVAL AND PREVENT DETERIORATION OF THEIR
HUMANITARIAN NEEDS

Key areas of convergence: The 2023 HRP places emphasis on providing services to those most in need from the IDP, returnee, stateless and
most seriously crisis-affected population groups in conflict areas. The HRP aims to provide crisis-affected children and youth with access to
safe, inclusive, relevant quality education and empower communities to support and sustain children’s safe learning opportunities. Emergency
shelter items, repair kits, NFIs and camp coordination/management support is aimed at assisting IDPs and other conflict or disaster affected
people to have a safe, dignified living conditions. In order to maintain the health, dignity and protection of affected people, HRP activities will
furthermore sustain quality and standards of water, sanitation and hygiene practices and will mainstream WASH services for target groups
and locations in close consultation with communities. In the area of education, the key converging interventions under the SERRP include
developing tools and materials that can support sustained, safe and inclusive learning for children and adolescents across the country,
through community-driven and alternative education solutions. The converging shelter-related interventions under the SERRP focus on
upgrading homeless shelters and enhancing the climate-resilience of shelters. These activities will make benefitting communities less at risk
of becoming in need ofhumanitarian assistance. In the area of WASH, the SERRP interventions focus on improving access to WASH services
for vulnerable communities (outside humanitarian settings), including informal settlements in urban areas. These services interlink with the
HRP as they support improved community conditions for return and or resettlement of IDPs currently in need of humanitarian assistance.

Focus of HRP interventions Focus of SERRP interventions

Among those prioritized from the HRP population groups Across communities more broadly, including those with unmet
only: humanitarian needs:
Education Education (Pillar 1)
• Establishing/rehabilitating TLSs that are accessible to all-crisis • Conduct impact analysis of the compounded crisis situation on
affected children and youths (including those with physical education and long-term implications, while developing an interim
disabilities). education strategy with non-state actors.
• Provision and improvement of safe, accessible context- • Support strengthened community learning through open learning
appropriate and gender-segregated WASH facilities in learning platform and tools including trainings for community service
spaces. providers, adaptation of teaching materials, and expanded access
• Provision and expansion of safe, relevant, accessible, quality to online education.
and inclusive non-formal education opportunities for all crisis- • Implementation of school feeding programmes to improve
affected and displaced children and youth (ECCD, and basic nutrition status among school children.
education)
• Provision of individual age and task-appropriate, and inclusive
learning materials and education supplies for use by learners
and educators (learners and educators kits - note books,
pencils, pens, back packs, uniforms/school clothing, etc).
• Provision of appropriate supplies (e.g. black boards, furniture,
chalk, etc) for learning spaces.
• Provision of CVA (based on feasibility) to support attendance
at learning spaces and coverage of learning expenses for
targeted populations.
• Provision of age- and context-appropriate menstrual hygiene
and health management information sessions, materials and
supplies (sanitary pads/napkins/towels) to adolescent girls in
learning spaces.
• Recruitment and retention of quality educators through the
provision of incentive payments for educators.
• Provision of EiE relevant capacity building to volunteer and
community educators (EiE, learner-centered pedagogy, SEL,
PSS, DRR, CP, child safeguarding, etc.).
• Provision of inclusive age and context-appropriate,
supplementary open learning materials and resources to
conflict and displacement-affected children and youth to
support their education.
• Training of educators and or parents/caregivers in effective
use of supplementary learning materials.
• Strengthening of the EiE response capacity of CSOs, NGOs,
ethnic, monastic and local partners (including EORE, PSEA,
advocacy, coordination, resource mobilization, contingency
plans, AAP, etc).
• Establishment and/or building of capacity of education
committees and PTAs to actively participate in education in
their communities.

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Focus of HRP interventions
Shelter
• Provision of emergency shelter support (construction, kits and
materials, cash assistance
• Shelter construction and reconstruction (IDP camps and sites)
• Provision of NFI kits to IDPs (including in camps/sites),
returnees/resettled IDPs, and non-displaced stateless people
• Provision of transitional shelter and reconstruction (returnees)
• Coordination and monitoring of multi-sector responses in IDP
settlements
• Improving living conditions through site care and maintenance
(CA)
• Implementation of CCCM trainings and Training of Trainers
• Development of community participation activities (CA)
• Establishment/maintenance of complaint/ feedback
mechanism and clear referral pathways
WASH
• Provision of equitable, inclusive and safe access to:
• Safe/improved drinking water that meets demand for domestic
purposes, at minimum/agreed standards in targeted locations,
• Functional excreta disposal systems,
• Hygiene items and community-tailored messages, enabling
health seeking behaviour,
• Integrated/mainstreamed WASH services, on the basis of risk-
sensitive programming and consultation with communities.
136
Focus of SERRP interventions
Shelter (Pillar 1)
• Conduct research on homelessness.
• Work with CSOs to upgrade homeless shelters in Yangon.
• Conduct advocacy to combat forced evictions through information
campaigns and support community-based solutions to deal with
evictions and land tenure issues in informal urban settlements.
Shelter (Pillar 2)
• Support construction or identification of (temporary) monsoon
shelters and climate resilient community infrastructure in
informal-settlements.
• Pilot upgrade or resettlement schemes, including housing
and basic infrastructure, through capacity-building of local
organizations for climate-resilient construction methods,
enhanced housing design and community-driven upgrading
solutions.
WASH (Pillar 1)
• Assessments and monitoring of WASH services and market
functionality.
• Support for improved hygiene practices among vulnerable
populations (outside humanitarian settings) through distribution
of critical WASH and hygiene supplies and services and through
behavioural change communications.
• Support for improved WASH access in social service facilities
(health care, schools, homeless shelters) and informal
settlements through distribution of WASH supply and installation
of handwashing facilities.
• Support vulnerable rural communities with climate resilient WASH
services.
• Support enhanced access to safe drinking water and sanitation
services through
HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2023

4.6
Monitoring Framework

Education Cluster Objectives (CO), Activities (CA) and Indicators

SP ACTIVITY/INDICATOR NEED TARGET

3.1 CO1: Crisis-affected and other vulnerable children and youth with humanitarian needs have continued access to safe, inclusive,
quality learning opportunities

Establish/rehabilitate TLSs that are accessible to all crisis affected children and youths (incl those with physical disabilities)

# of temporary learning spaces established/rehabilitated 900,000 300,000

Provide/improve safe accessible context appropriate and gender segregated WASH facilities in learning spaces

# of education spaces with improved WASH facilities 900,000 300,000

Provide/expand safe, relevant, accessible, quality and inclusive non formal education opportunities for all crisis and displacement
affected children and youth (ECCD, and basic education)

# of children/adolescents/youth enrolled in/benefitting from non formal education opportunities 1,200,000 300,000
provided

Provide individual age/ task-appropriate,and inclusive learning materials/education supplies/ for use by learners and educators
(learners and educators kits - note books, pencils, pens, back packs, uniforms/school clothing, etc)

# of children/adolescents/youth enrolled in/benefitting from non formal education opportunities 1,200,000 300,000
provided

Equip learning spaces with appropriate supplies (e.g black boards, furniture, chalk, etc)

# of learning spaces with improved learning environment 900,000 300,000

Provide cash and voucher assistance (based on feasibility)

# of school age children receiving education-related cash and voucher assistance 1,200,000 300,000

Provide age and context-appropriate menstrual hygiene and health management information sessions and materials/supplies
(sanitary pads/napkins/towels) to adolescent girls in learning spaces

# of adolescent school age girls receiving menstrual management information sessions 800,000 235,000

3.1 CO2: Crisis-affected and other vulnerable children and youth with humanitarian needs receive quality, protective, and inclusive
education that caters for their mental health and psychosocial needs

Recruit and retain quality educators through provision of incentive payments for educators

# of educators supported with incentive payments or other financial support 50000 50,000

Provide EiE relevant capacity building to volunteer and community educators (EiE, learner centered pedagogy, SEL, PSS, DRR, CP, Child
safeguarding, etc)

# of teachers/educators trained 50000 50,000

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SP ACTIVITY/INDICATOR NEED TARGET

Provide inclusive age and context-appropriate, supplemantary open learning materials/ resources to conflict and displacement-
affected children and youth to support their education

# of people ( learners and educators) receiving supplementary/open learning materials/ 1,500,000 300,000
resources for basic education (formal and non formal)

Train educators and or parents/caregivers in effective use of supplementary learning materials

# of teachers/ educators and or parents/caregivers receiving capacity building in use of 65000 65,000
supplemantary learning materials

3.1 CO3: The capacity of communities and local/national education partners is strengthened to support safer, coordinated education
that monitors and responds to identified needs, and mitigates impacts of shocks and crises

Strengthen EiE response capacity of CSOs, NGOs, ethnic ,monastic and local partners (incl MRE, PSEA, advocacy, coordination,
resource mobilization,contingency plans, AAP, etc )

# of Cluster partner staff receiving capacity building (EiE, inclusion, PSEA, and/or AAP, etc) 1052 1,052

# of organisations receiving funding support (from eg MHF, and other funders) for EiE response

Establish/ and or build capacity of education committees/PTAs to actively participate in education in their communities

# of education committees/PTAs established and/or trained 220 220

Food Security Cluster Objectives, Activities and Indicators

SP ACTIVITY/INDICATOR NEED TARGET

2.1 CO1: 1,470,000 crisis-affected people (IDPS) (764,400girls/women and 705,600 boys/men) have equitable access to sufficient,
safe and nutritious food in-kind and/or through cash assistance

Food assistance / MPCA

% of the target population with acceptable Food Consumption Score (FCS) at end of 2,181,662 1,470,000
implementation (Target: 75%)

2.1 CO2: 366,000 vulnerable people with humanitarian needs (non IDPs) (190320 girls/women and 175,680boys/men) have
equitable access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food in-kind and/or through cash assistance

Food assistance / MPCA

% of the target population with acceptable Food Consumption Score (FCS) at end of 13,036,254 366,000
implementation (Target: 75%)

2.1 CO3: Urgently restore, protect and improve livelihoods of more than 533,000 crisis-affected people (277,000 women and
255,000 men) by rehabilitating agricultural production,67 restoring/protecting productive assets, and rebuilding or creating
income-generating activities to prevent use of negative (and potentially irreversible) coping mechanisms

Agriculture & livelihoods MPCA

% of the target population with acceptable Food Consumption Score (FCS) at end of 15,217,917 533,482
implementation (Target: 75%)

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Health Cluster Objectives, Activities and Indicators

SP ACTIVITY/INDICATOR NEED TARGET

2.2 CO1: Reduce and prevent suffering, morbidity and mortality by the timely detection and coordinated response to notifications
of outbreaks for epidemic-prone diseases, such as malaria, diarrhea, acute respiratory infections, and vaccine-preventable
illnesses

Fill vaccination gaps for U5 children

% of targeted IDP and non-IDP U5 children who received vaccination-related support 893,253 126,302

Timely detection and coordinated response to notifications of outbreaks for epidemic-prone diseases

% of communicable disease outbreaks notifications verified and responded timely for IDP and 483,379 40,804
non-IDP population

COVID-19 mainstreaming (testing,case management,IPC,vaccination,RCCE,capacity building) into humanitarian health services

% of targeted IDP and non-IDP population that has access to COVID-19 prevention and response 10,032,299 229,241

2.2 CO2: Improve availability and accessibility of primary health services, among displaced, returned, stateless and crisis-affected
people, through basic and complementary packages including maternal, child and adolescent health, sexual and reproductive
health, MHPSS, GBV-related health, illnesses such as TB, disability, emergency health for surgical, trauma, and referrals

Primary Health services Basic Package including maternal, child and adolescent health, sexual and reproductive health, MHPSS, GBV-
related health

% of targeted IDP and non-IDP population that has access to primary health care services 10,032,299 2,292,412

Primary Health services Complementary Package for surgery and trauma

% of targeted IDP and non-IDP population that has access to primary health care services 10,032,299 229,241

Primary Health services Complementary Package for TB

% of targeted IDP and non-IDP population that has access to primary health care services 10,032,299 36,300

Primary Health Services Complementary Package for rehabilitation services and provision of assistive devices for persons with
injuries and different forms of impairments

% of targeted IDP and non-IDP population that has access to primary health care services 10,032,299 171,931

2.2 CO3: Strengthen the capacity of implementing health partners on accurate and timely data collection and reporting for displaced,
returned, stateless and crisis-affected people, disaggregated by age, sex, and disabilities, to inform decision-making

Training on systematic applying data disaggregated by sex, age and vulnerable population

% of implementing health partners trained in systematic applying data disaggregation -

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Nutrition Cluster Objectives, Activities and Indicators

SP ACTIVITY/INDICATOR NEED TARGET

2.3 CO1: 563,552-thousand girls, boys and children U5 years old and 423,667 pregnant and lactating women, receive integrated
support to avert malnutrition and its long-term health impacts

# children 6-59 months screened for wasting 1,267,380 338,375

# PLW screened for malnutrition 959,034 251,887

# children aged 6-59 months with SAM admitted for treatment 51,860 14,714

# children aged 6-59 months with MAM admitted for treatment 242,213 57,550

# PLW with MAM admitted for treatment 118,033 26,686

# boys and girls aged 6-59 months at risk of acute malnutrition in priority locations who 1,142,780 170,846
received blanket supplementary feeding support programme

# PLWs at risk of acute malnutrition in priority locations who received blanket supplementary 959,034 126,193
feeding programme

# primary caregivers of children 0-23 months receiving IYCF counselling 959,034 251,887

# children 6-59 months receiving multiple micronutrient powders 1,267,380 338,375

# pregnant women receiving preventative Multiple Micro-nutrient tablet or iron-folic acid 959,034 251,887
supplementation

Protection Cluster Objectives, Activities and Indicators

SP ACTIVITY/INDICATOR NEED TARGET

1.1 CO1: Protection of people affected by crisis is improved through provision of individually-targeted life-saving assistance and
multi-sectoral, age-specific, gender-appropriate and inclusive protection, GBV, Mine Action, child protection, and MHPSS,
responses to meet protection needs and reduce the risk of resorting to negative coping mechanisms

Provision of targeted/specialized support to persons with specific protection needs/risks

# of people (disaggregated by age, sex, disability, and population group) benefiting from the 500,000 399,093
individually targeted protection support

# of children (disaggregated by age, sex, disability, and population group) receiving CP kits - 15,000

# of people (disaggregated by age, disability, and population group) benefited by victim 3,000 2,000
assistance services

# of women/adolescent girls (disaggregated by age, disability, and population group) received 7,702,030 366,740
dignity kits as part of addressing differential needs and GBV risk mitigation measure

Case management and psychosocial support

# of children (disaggregated by age, sex, disability, and population group) benefited from the 3,015,422 110,000
inter-agency case management system

# of people referred/received for MHPSS services 3,015,422 202,795

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SP ACTIVITY/INDICATOR NEED TARGET

Provision of legal aid services including counseling and legal aid support

# of people (disaggregated by age, sex, disability, and population group) benefiting from legal 20,329
aid/counseling support

# of people (disaggregated by age, sex, disability, and population group) benefiting from legal 28,800
awareness support

1.1 CO2: Community-based protection structures and community-led risk mitigation initiatives supported

Community-based protection structures and community-led risk mitigation initiatives supported

# of children (disaggregated by age, sex, disability, and population group) benefited from the 300
inter-agency case management system

# of women, and girls receiving services in safe houses/shelters 36

# of children (disaggregated by age, sex, disability, and population group) benefited from the 1644
inter-agency case management system

Community awareness raising for prevention and mitigation of protection risks

# of people (disaggregated by age, sex, and disability, and population group) benefiting from the 959,102
protection awareness raising activities

# of people (disaggregated by age, sex, disability, and population group) received information 450,000
on CP principles and access to services on child protection aspects

# of people (disaggregated by age, sex, and disability, and population group) who received 3,100,000 499,612
explosive ordnance risk education

# of people (disaggregated by age, sex, disability, and population group) reached with 7,702,030 243,865
messages on GBV prevention and services

1.1 CO3: Promotion of and respect for international humanitarian and human rights laws and humanitarian principles is enhanced
through protection monitoring, analysis of risks and advocacy with all relevant stakeholders

Protection monitoring and assessments

# of communities (camp/displacement/solutions site/township) reached with protection 5,000,000 1,250,000

monitoring

# of village where contamination survey has been conducted 1,600

1.1 CO4: Capabilities to prevent, mitigate and respond to protection risks and needs are strengthened by building technical capacity
and community awareness of stakeholders on priority protection topics, as well as mainstreaming and integration of protection,
GBV, Mine Action, child protection, and MHPSS support in all humanitarian actions

Capacity building support to humanitarian actors and services providers

# of humanitarian staff (disaggregated by sex and organization type) trained on protection 2,477
topics

# of technical support provided to non-protection partners in mainstreaming protection by 100

protection partners

# of staff/frontline workers (disaggregated by sex and organization type) trained on Child 700
Protection principles, risks and case management

# of staff/frontline workers (disaggregated by sex and organization type) trained on Mine Action 200
principles, risks and case management

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SP ACTIVITY/INDICATOR NEED TARGET

# of staff/frontline workers (disaggregated by sex and organization type) trained on GBV 650
guiding principles and relevant response services (Case mgt, PSS, CMR, GBV minimum
Standards etc)

# of persons trained (disaggregated by sex and organization type) in MHPSS 500

Shelter/NFI/CCCM Cluster Objectives, Activities and Indicators

SP ACTIVITY/INDICATOR NEED TARGET

3.2 CO1: To assist IDPs and other conflict and disaster affected people with emergency temporary shelter, or semi-permanent
shelter support (including the maintenance, repair, upgrading and replacement of existing shelters) and emergency NFI provision
that enhances protection, lifesaving, dignity and privacy

Provision of Emergency shelter support (construction)

# of people reached through shelter provision of Emergency shelter support (construction) -

Provision of Emergency shelter support (kits and materials/ cash assistance)

# of people reached through Provision of Emergency shelter support (kits and materials/ cash 1,116,959 285,492
assistance)

Shelter construction and reconstruction (IDP Camps and Sites)

# of people reached through Shelter construction or reconstruction (IDP Camps and Sites) 83,153 68,866

Provision of NFI kits to IDPs in camps/ sites

# of people reached through distribution of NFIs full kit/items 1,244,393 603,629

Provision of NFI kits to IDPs

# of people reached through distribution of NFIs full kit/items 544,538 112,005

3.2 CO2: To assist returnees/ resettled, stateless people with emergency, temporary shelter, or semi-permanent shelter support
(including the maintenance, repair, upgrading and replacement of existing shelters) and NFI provision to enhance protection,
dignity, safety and privacy

Provision of transitional shelter and reconstruction (Returnees)

# of people reached through (Transitional shelter and reconstruction (Returnees) 83,674 36,238

Provision of NFI kits to returnees/ resettled, stateless people

# of people reached through distribution of NFIs full kit/items 192,834 74,870

3.2 CO3: Strengthening settlement monitoring, service coordination and maintenance of camp infrastructure in line to humanitarian
life-saving support

Coordination and monitoring of multi-sector responses in IDP settlements

# of IDPs living in IDP sites provided with humanitarian life-saving, multi-sectoral assistance 842,730
(indicator)

# of coordination meetings held at site level

# of site monitoring held

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SP ACTIVITY/INDICATOR NEED TARGET

Improve living conditions through site care and maintenance

# Camp Infrastructure improvements to prevent protection risks -

# of people reached through the provision of camp management support 523,249 390,579

3.2 CO4: Strengthening the capacity of camp management actors,communities, and service providers at camp level on camp
management and coordination; and protection mainstreaming

Implementation of CCCM trainings

# of camp actors trained, # of IDPs trained 682

Implementation of CCCM ToTs

# of ToTs implemented 220

3.2 CO5: Reinforce community participation activities at camp level

Development of community participation activities

# of people reached through Community participation activities 835,717 650,795

Establishment/maintenance of complaint/ feedback mechanism and clear referral pathway

# of people accessed the complaint/feedback response mechanism 528,189 395,128

WASH Cluster Objectives, Activities and Indicators

SP ACTIVITY/INDICATOR NEED TARGET

2.1 CO1: Implement, operate and sustain quality and standards of water and sanitation services and good hygiene practices to crisis
affected population

Crisis-affected people including IDP's returnees, stateless and other vulnerable groups have equitable, inclusive and safe access to
safe/improved drinking water meeting demand for domestic purposes, at minimum/agreed standards

# of Crisis-affected people have equitable, inclusive and safe access to safe/improved drinking 5,154,066 1,098,120
water meeting demand for domestic purposes, at minimum/agreed standards

Crisis- affected people including IDPs, returness, stateless and other vulneraberal groups have equitable, inclusive and safe access to
functional excreta disposal systems

# of Crisis-affected people have equitable, inclusive and safe access to functional excreta 5,154,066 999,019
disposal systems

Crisis-affected people including IDP's returnees, stateless and other vulnerable groups have equitable, inclusive and safe access to
hygiene items and community-tailored messages, enabling health seeking behavior

# of Crisis-affected people have equitable, inclusive and safe access to hygiene items and 5,154,066 1,629,731
community-tailored messages, enabling health seeking behavior

# children accessing appropriate WASH facilities and hygiene services in learning facilities and 360,785 105,934
safe spaces

# of women, men, girls and boys accessing WASH services in thealth facilities which received 206,163 70,125
support from the WASH Cluster

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SP ACTIVITY/INDICATOR NEED TARGET

2.1 CO2: People have access to integrated/mainstreamed WASH services, on the basis of risk-sensitive programming and
consultation with communities

crisis-affected people have access to integrated/mainstreamed WASH services, on the basis of risk-sensitive programming and
consultation with communities

Number of vulnerable people that are consulted, and their concerns are addressed, through 721,569 228,563
dignified and inclusive WASH services

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4.7
Acronyms

3W Who does What Where FAO Food and Agriculture Organization

4W Who does What Where and When GAM Global Acute Malnutrition

AA Arakan Army GBV Gender-Based Violence

AAP Accountability to Affected People GiHA Gender in Humanitarian Action

AoR Areas of Responsibility HAWG Humanitarian Access Working Group

ASEAN Association of Southeast Asian Nations HCT Humanitarian Country Team

CBO Community-Based Organizations HIV/AIDS Human Immunodeficiency Virus/

Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome
CCCM Camp Coordination and
Camp Management HLP Housing, Land and Property

CA Cluster Activity HNO Humanitarian Needs Overview

CDM Civil Disobedience Movement HRP Humanitarian Response Plan

CERF Central Emergency Response Fund IASC Inter-Agency Standing Committee

CMA Camp Management Agencies ICCG Inter-Cluster Coordination Group

CMCOORD Civil-military Coordination IDP Internally Displaced Person

CO Cluster Objective IEDs Improvised Explosive Devices

CRVS Conflict-related sexual violence IERP Interim Emergency Response Plan

CSO Civil Society Organization IHL International Humanitarian Law

CVA Cash and Voucher Assistance IHRL International Human Rights Law

CwC Communicating with Communities IYCF Infant and young child feeding

EAOs Ethnic Armed Organizations IM Information Management

ECMT Education Cluster Monitoring Tool INFORM Index for Risk Management

EHOs Ethnic Health Organizations INGO International

Non-Government Organization
EiE Education in Emergencies
JIAF Joint Intersectoral Analysis Framework
EORE Explosive Ordnance Risk Education
MA Mine Action
ERW Explosive Remnants of War
MAF Myanmar Armed Forces
EWARS Early Warning Alert and
Response System MAM Moderate Acute Malnutrition

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MEB Minimum Expenditure Basket SOP Standard Operating Procedures

MHF Myanmar Humanitarian Fund SPO Specific Objective

MHPSS Mental Health and Psychosocial Support TA Travel Authorization

MIAG Maungdaw Inter-Agency Group TLSs Temporary Learning Spaces

MIMU Myanmar Information Management Unit UNDP United Nations Development Programme

MoU Memorandum of Understanding UNHCR United Nations High

Commissioner for Refugees
NFI Non-Food Item
WASH Water, Sanitation and Hygiene
NGO Non-governmental Organization
WFP World Food Programme
NLD National League for Democracy
WHO World Health Organization
NUG National Unity Government

OCHA Office for the Coordination of

Humanitarian Affairs

OPD Organization of Persons with Disabilities

PLW Pregnant and Lactating Women

PDFs People’s Defence Forces

PDM Post Distribution Monitoring

PIMS Protection Incident Monitoring Systems

PiN People in Need

PoVAW Prevention of Violence Against Women

PSEA Protection from Sexual

Exploitation and Abuse

PWDs Persons with Disabilities

RCCE Risk Communication and

Community Engagement

RC/HC Resident Coordinator/

Humanitarian Coordinator

SAC State Administration Council

SAM Severe Acute Malnutrition

SEA Sexual Exploitation and Abuse

SERRP Socioeconomic Resilience and

Response Plan

SEWG Southeast Working Group

SO Strategic Objective

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4.8
End Notes

1 SG's noon briefing of 16 December 2022 “Suspended international infrastructure projects resumed in
Myanmar”, The Irrawaddy, 14 Jan. 2022; Fitch Solutions, Myanmar
2 UN figures as of 26 December 2022
Infrastructure Report, 2021
3 OCHA, HRP 2022 Q3 Monitoring Dashboard
23 ILO Brief, Employment in Myanmar in the first half of 2022: A
4 OCHA, HRP 2022 Q1 Monitoring Dashboard rapid assessment, August 2022

5 https://www.unrefugees.org/news/rohingya- 24 Weaving Gender. Challenges and - ILO, 2018.

refugeecrisis-explained/
25 H. Hansen, J. Rand, W.W. Ngu, The gender wage gap in
6 International Crisis Group, April 2022. https://www.crisisgroup. Myanmar: Adding insult to injury?, Journal of Asian Economics,
org/asia/south-east-asia/myanmar/resisting-resistance- Volume 81, 2022. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asieco.2022.101511
myanmars-pro-military-pyusawhti-militias
26 ILO Brief, Employment in Myanmar in 2021: A rapid
7 Prohibition of assembly, speech, campaigning by using vehicle assessment, January 2022
or marching, demonstration, vandalizing, and gathering of five or
27 ILO Brief, Employment in Myanmar in 2021: A rapid
more people. Curfew hours from 8:00PM to 4:00AM. However,
assessment, January 2022
curfew hours have changed in many locations
28 ILO Brief, Employment in Myanmar in 2021: A rapid
8 https://press.un.org/en/2022/sc15159.doc.htm
assessment, January 2022
9 “Losing a generation: how the military junta is devastating
29 ILO Brief, Employment in Myanmar in the first half of 2022: A
Myanmar’s children and undermining Myanmar’s future.”
rapid assessment, August 2022
Conference room paper of the Special Rapporteur on the situation
of human rights in Myanmar, Human Rights Council, Fiftieth 30 OCHA, Monthly Humanitarian Update No 25, December 2022
session, 13 June–8 July 2022
31  Gender Equality Network, We Are Hard to Ignore Now, Women
10 Global monitoring report on financial protection in health in Myanmar Resistance Movement, July 2021
2021. Geneva: World Health Organization and The World
32 International Crisis Group
Bank; 2021 (https://www.who.int/publications-detail-
redirect/9789240040953, accessed 23 March 2022) 33 International Crisis Group

11 ACAPS, Humanitarian access overview, July 2022 34 International Crisis Group

12 Aid Worker Security. https://aidworkersecurity.org/incidents/ 35 Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human
search?start=2022&end=2022&detail=1&country=MM, accessed rights in Myanmar, Thomas H. Andrews. Human Rights Council,
27 December 2022. 49th session. 28 February–1 April 2022

13 ACAPS, Humanitarian access overview, December 2022 36 https://www.ohchr.org/en/hr-bodies/hrc/myanmar-ffm/

sexualviolence
14 NRM CAR Facility
37 Human Rights Council. (2019). Sexual and gender-based
15 https://www.adb.org/countries/myanmar/economy
violence in Myanmar and the gendered impact of its ethnic
16 World Bank, Myanmar Financial Sector Reforms: Policy conflicts, 42nd session. A/HRC/42/CRP.4. New York: UN
Note, 8 July 2022
38 SafeGBVReporting. Trends Analysis: Conflict-Related Sexual
17 https://www.adb.org/countries/myanmar/economy Violence in Myanmar Biannual assessment, Edition 1/2022 (1
January to 30 June 2022)
18 World Bank, Myanmar Economic Monitor, July 2022
39 See: Women and Child Rights Project. 2005. Catwalk to the
19 World Bank, Myanmar Economic Monitor, July 2022
Barracks: Conscription of women for sexual slavery and other
20 World Bank, Myanmar Economic Monitor, July 2022 practices of sexual violence by troops of the Burmese military
regime in Mon areas. Women’s League of Chinland. 2007. Unsafe
21 Market Price Monitoring, WFP, September 2022
State. State-Sanctioned Sexual Violence Against Chin Women.
22 Y. Muramatsu, “Myanmar coup grinds cross-border Mizoram: WLC. Women’s League of Burma. 2014. “If They Had
infrastructure projects to halt”, Nikkei Asia, 3 Mar. 2021;

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40 As of 17 October 2022 Hope, They Would Speak”. The Ongoing
Use of State-Sponsored Sexual Violence in Burma’s Ethnic
Communities. Chiang Mai: WLB
41 UNICEF 2022. https://www.unicef.org/myanmar/reports/
myanmar-landmineerw-incidents-information-20. Please note that
this report does not include explosions and casualties targeting
local administrations and security forces across the country.
42 https://www.fatf-gafi.org/publications/fatfgeneral/documents/
outcomes-fatf-plenary-october-2022.html
43 https://progressivevoicemyanmar.org/wp-content/
uploads/2022/10/freedom-of-the-net-2022.pdf
44 https://www.accessnow.org/spotlight/myanmar/
45 Zaw Naing Tun, Dargusch, P., McMoran, D., McAlpine, C., and Hill,
G. “Patterns and Drivers of Deforestation and Forest Degradation in
Myanmar.” 2021
46 World Bank, 2019. https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/
myanmar/publication/myanmar-country-environmental-analysis
47 World Bank, 2019. https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/
en/464661560176989512/pdf/Synthesis-Report.pdf
48 https://germanwatch.org/en/19777
49 World Wildlife Fund, Myanmar report 2017, Assessing Climate
Risk in Myanmar: A contribution to planning and decision-making
in Myanmar, March 2017
50 https://themimu.info/sites/themimu.info/files/documents/
Report_Analytical_Brief_Climate_Environmental_Degradation_and_
Disaster_Risk_MIMU_May2022_ENG.pdf
51 These numbers do not include forced returns as a result of any
potential camp closures.
52 WFP/FAO, August/September 2022
53 UN figures as of 26 December 2022
148
54 Women CSOs is a collective term used here to refer to
women’s rights organizations and women-led/run organizations
operating in Myanmar
55 WFP/FAO nationwide food security and livelihoods assessment,
August - September 2022
56 Include the Reliefweb link to the HNO 2023 once published!
57 Access Monitoring and Reporting Framework
58 Aid Worker Security. https://aidworkersecurity.org/incidents/
search?start=2022&end=2022&detail=1&country=MM,
accessed 29 November.
59 Several CSOs may have been consulted more than once
60 Information provision, participation, and feedback/complaints
61 Communication, community participation/engagement,
improving feedback, localization/community participation, and
diversity and inclusion.
62 Receive, record, refer, respond, and report/analysis
63 Existing CFMs on most of the camps across Myanmar: Help
Desks, Hotlines, Suggestion boxes, and Information Board.
64 A system specifically designed to gather data and insights
from young people
65 https://fscluster.org/sites/default/files/documents/fsc_
myanmar_response_snapshot_jan-aug_2022_final.pdf
66 REACH Myanmar MSNA Assessment, 2022
67 Agricultural production include: crops, livestock,
aquaculture and fishery
68 Market Price Monitoring, WFP, September 2022
HUMANITARIAN
RESPONSE PLAN
MYANMAR ISSUED JANUARY 2023